


The Reaperman Cometh

by space_squirrel



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Body Horror, Cabin Fic, Cabin Slasher, F/M, Horror, Mass Effect Big Bang, Mass Effect Big Bang 2017, Sorry Not Sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-26 17:09:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12063408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/space_squirrel/pseuds/space_squirrel
Summary: Stranded and in need of ship repairs, the Normandy crew use their downtime for what was supposed to be an idyllic vacation: five days in a cabin on an uncolonized planet. But these things never go as planned, and as the sun sets it's a fight to survive as they're stalked by something wicked... something out for blood.





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

 

**AKA the Cabin Slasher Fic.**

**No, really.**

**It was only supposed to be ~13,500 words but things got a little out of hand (especially during editing) and here we are. Sorry/not sorry for what you're about to read. Also, PLEASE take the above warnings very seriously. Especially the gore one. Cabin slasher. Remember that.**  
  
**Also, a BIG thank you to my fantastic artist and friend potionsmaster ([AO3](http://archiveofourown.org/users/potionsmaster/) / [Tumblr](https://nightmarestudio606.tumblr.com/)) for the amazing mood board to go with this story. It feels so weird to say I LOVE something so dark, but I do! It's perfection, really. Thank you.**  
  
**So without further ado... *insert evil laugh here***

 

* * *

 

##  TEN YEARS EARLIER...

Doctor Herbert West is not having a good day, not by a longshot.

Oh, it had started poorly, to be sure: he’d woken up late and still drunk from the previous night’s celebrations. His team had finally reached a pivotal point in their long-running underground experiment, and West had overdone it a little with the rum, sleeping straight through his alarm clock and waking in a panic three hours later than intended.

Tumbling out of bed, he’d hauled on his clothes, rushing through the back hallway of his shared lodging and into the living room, grabbing a jacket off the orange armchair by the door. Shrugging it on, he exited in a rush, forgetting to lock the door as he dutifully and quickly head around to the main building where his underground laboratory was housed.

He’d arrived to find the door to the Cerberus’ facility all but ripped off it’s hinges, two long gash marks running the length of the wooden wall, a puddle of wet blood sitting on the porch. If that wasn’t suspect enough, as he entered the building and descended into the facility, it was eerily quiet - too quiet, if you asked him: the only sound to be heard the mechanical rumbling of the elevator’s heavy metal chains.

Rubbing his eyes and inhaling sharply, West steels himself for the worst as the elevator doors slide open and reveal a scene he can only describe as absolutely horrifying - and he’s seen a lot of shit in his day.

Bloodied strips of flesh and bones picked clean were scattered from one end of the facility to the other, the pungent stench of rotting meat and cheap perfume flooding the air.

That scene - the blood, the bones, the smell of death - should have been enough to send West running for the hills, but he isn’t exactly thinking clearly this morning, and instead, decides to head deeper into the facility and look for his partner, the eccentric Professor Raymond Knowby.

 _Yes,_ West thinks, _Raymond will know what’s going on, what we should do._

Afterall, though the facility is more a maze of underground storm cellars, their lab is a secure facility, and West is damn certain the Professor is safely locked instead, dealing with... whatever _this_ is.

He uses his keycard to enter the first corridor, pulling open the heavy metal door and shutting it soundly behind him, the safety lock clicking into place.

Peering into the darkness, West stumbles down the dark hallway as the overhead lights flicker eerily. Using his keycard, he crosses through another door, entering a large underground cellar filled with shelves, glancing around.

It’s still dark, and the lights are flickering here, too; but West knows just needs to cross this cellar and go through one more door before he’s safe and secure in his lab.

A shrill, high pitched chattering whine suddenly fills the air, faint at first, increasing in pitch and volume quickly as West frantically activates his omniblade, hair standing on end as he moves to press his body against the wall.

In his haste, he trips over an errant bag of fertilizer - _honestly, who leaves this crap lying around like that? -_ and smashes into a nearby shelf, knocking this and that to the floor, metal objects tumbling with loud _clangs_ as they fall down to the concrete floor.

The whine ends as abruptly as it started, and West holds his breath, eyes darting around nervously in the dark. He slowly counts to ten, heart pounding, and, after the seconds tick by with no Frankensteined monstrosity, no ancient evil, no god-knows-what experiment escapee accosting him, he exhales in relief and continues forward, inching his way along the wall.

His foot connects with something wet and soft, sinking into the warm mush, and West mutters to himself as peers downward, wrinkling his nose in disgust as he realizes he’d just stepped into half a human torso, chest cracked wide open, maggots crawling around the flesh inside. Stitched on what little fabric remains is three distinct letters: -wby.

“Oh, fucking great,” West sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. If Knowby is dead, if the the facility is _this_ quiet, save for that god damned chattering whine - he’s fucked, and he knows it.

West hightails it back into the corridor, not bothering to close and lock the door behind him. He just needs to make it back to the elevator, up and outside, to his shuttle so he can fly far, far away from this hell hole. He opens the second corridor door, stumbling into the front of the facility, when the chattering noise returns, loud and right above his ear.

With a gasp, West throws his keycard into the corridor and slams the door shut, manually locking it - he knows he can’t save himself, not now, but he can at least lock these _things_ in with him, keep them from operating the elevator out, protect anyone else from his team that might still be alive.

A cold, razor sharp finger cuts down his spine and West squeezes his eyes shut, swallowing a scream, his body coming alive in excruciating pain as he’s torn from limb to limb.


	2. Chapter 2

##  DAY ONE

 “Come on, guys, it’ll be fun!”

Joker sighs, skeptically eying Kaidan from across the room.

“I don’t know, man,” he pauses, taking a bite of his sandwich as he scrolls through photos on the datapad in his hand. “An entire week, on an uncolonized planet, at some resort that looks like something straight out of the 50s? I mean, when were these pictures even _taken?”_

Ashley leans over, peering over his shoulder, and snorts.

“Aw, don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little rustic living,” she laughs, nudging him with her elbow. “Or maybe you’re worried you’ll find a spider in your bed.”

“Hey, I am NOT scared of spiders!”

“Then why did I have to come and kill–”

“Shepard!,” Joker shouts, eyes lighting up as he sees her approaching, eager to change the subject. “Has Kaidan told you about his crackpot shore leave idea for _team bonding_ yet?”

“Hey,” Kaidan protests, “It’s not a crackpot idea. Right guys?” The room falls silent, and he glances around, an expectant look on his face. “Oh come on, you can’t say you’re not even a little bit interested in spending a week in a old-fashioned cabin? Swimming, hiking, communing with nature...”

“ _Eating_ the nature,” Wrex corrects.

“I think it sounds great,” Shepard interjects, and Kaidan gives her a shy smile. “Besides, we’re literally in the middle of nowhere; and these emergency repairs _have_ to be done before we can take off. Do you really want to spend the next five days on this tiny space station?”

There’s a long pause, before Joker sighs heavily.

“ _Fine._ I’m in. But when you’re getting eaten alive by some weird ass blood sucking space bugs, just remember this: I TOLD YOU SO.”

 

* * *

 

When they arrive at the shuttle bay a few hours later, it’s dark and eerily quiet; the faint smell of smoke and sweat wafting through the air. There’s a rustling noise towards the back of the room, followed by a hacking cough, then: footsteps.

A short, round man with leathery skin and greasy, grey-black hair shuffles out, loudly snorting in snot before leering at Shepard, then Ashley, finally turning his sights on Liara and giving a low whistle.

“Well, well, well. Lookie what we’ve got here! To what do I owe the pleasure, _ladies_?”

“That’s Commander to you,” Shepard snaps, and Kaidan has to hide his smile.

The man sits down on a nearby crate and leans back, hands in the air placatingly. He’s appallingly filthy, a bush of unkempt beard covering the lower half of his face, dirty shirt barely covering his gut; yet he sits like a king on his throne as he gives the group a crooked smile.

“Alright, _Commander_ Lady. What can Ol’ Charon here do ya’ll for?”

“Our ship is undergoing emergency repairs, and we thought we’d head down to this old earth-style cabin for a few days while we wait,” Kaidan explains, passing the pilot a data pad with the info.

He studies it for a second, then passes it back, violently shaking his head.

“Oh, fuck naw! I ain’t flying down there, not to that planet, no way, no how. Ya’ll are on your own.”

“What do you mean on our own?” Shepard asks, narrowing her eyes at the man. “You’re a shuttle pilot, so do your thing and... pilot!” She waves her hand towards the rust bucket behind him for emphasis.

Charon shrugs, leaning back even farther and scratching his belly. Shepard can't help but take a small step back as he suddenly leans forward, dirt-streaked face inches from hers as he grins wolfishly, the smell of stale beer and cigarettes on his breathe.

“Ain’t nobody flyin’ to that there planet anymore, sweetheart.”

“Ain’t nobody, or you _ain’t_?” Ashley asks sharply, a dangerous edge to her voice. Shepard shoots her a look and she rolls her eyes, but quiets down nonetheless.

“Ain’t nobody,” he repeats. “That there planet be deserted, and for good reason. You wanna go down there, that’s yer problem, but ain’t no amount of money will get me to take you there. That place ain’t nothing but trouble.”

“Sounds fun,” Wrex says.

“2500 credits,” Kaidan offers suddenly, and the old man’s eyes nearly bulge out of his head.

“You gotta be shittin’ me!”

“So, you’ll take us then?” Shepard asks, but Charon doesn't reply, he’s already on his feet, shaking his head in disbelief and making his way towards his rusted, beat up shuttle.

“So much for _ain’t no amount of money_ ” Garrus mutters under his breath, imitating the pilot’s slow drawl, and Shepard has to hold in a laugh as they trail behind the degenerate and climb on in.

 

* * *

 

 

Thirty minutes later, they’re standing in front of the lodge - _if you could even call it that_ \- slack jawed and wide eyed.

The building is old and rundown, the front door ajar, with a broken window and crooked front porch substituting for a welcoming committee. The sign is rusted to a point of illegibility, hanging dangerously by one corner, the property dark and overgrown: it’s clear no one has been here in quite some time.

“Kaidan,” Shepard asks slowly, “Did you call to find out if this place was still operational before we came down?”

His silence and red-tipped ears answer her question.

“Well,” Garrus says diplomatically, “we’re here now, and Ol’ Smokey up there isn't coming back for us for five days, so we might as well go see what we're dealing with.”

He heads towards the main door of the lodge and moves to pull it open the rest of the way, instead, pulling the door completely off its hinges. He stares at it, a look of disbelief on his face before shrugging and setting the offending object aside. He takes a small step in, stumbling as his foot nearly goes through the rotting floor, muttering something in Turian their translator’s don’t catch. Ashley nearly busts a gut laughing as he awkwardly tries to pull his leg out of the floor, the others filing in behind them.

There's a strange, pungent smell filling the room, a tinge of sweetness behind it, causing Joker to gag and immediately turn around as Liara demurely covers her nose with the collar of her shirt.

“No way am I setting foot in there,” he says, eyeing the dark stain at their feet. “Is that _blood_?” 

Wrex sniffs the air loudly. “Can’t tell. Too old. Probably varren.” 

“Right,” Joker scoffs.  “Well, did any of you notice the entire fucking roof is missing?”

They look up, and sure enough, there’s a gaping hole where the majority of the ceiling has caved in. Thunder booms overhead, suddenly, causing them to jump as a strange blue lightning flares across the sky, crackling as it goes, dark clouds quickly rolling in behind it.

“Come on, guys,” Kaidan says, stepping off the rotting porch and onto the grass. “I think the cabin is this way.” 

“If it’s still standing,” Joker mutters as they head around back, trekking through the woods for about a mile before they find their destination. The windows and doors of the lone cabin seem to be intact, though grey and dull with grime. 

Shepard rubs at the small window in the door with her hand, peeking through, and, when she can’t see anything, shrugs and tries the knob. “Here goes nothing,” she says, as the door swings open.

Luckily, the cabin looks to be in much better shape than the main lodge, though the air is stagnant and everything inside is both outdated and covered in a thin coat of dust. The windows are caked with dirt, dullness shrouding the cabin’s interior, and the wooden walls are laced with intricate cobwebs. In the centre of the living room sits two mismatched couches, a coffee table, and an ugly orange armchair; an old, faded rug in the middle. There’s a varren head mounted on the wall, and Wrex grunts approvingly as he moves into the next room.

The kitchen is no worse for wear, the cupboards warped with age but stocked with both dextro and levo military rations and canned food that, miraculously, is not yet expired. An old-fashioned wood burning stove sits in the corner, the only apparent source of heat in the cabin, and Shepard stares at it.

“Does anyone know how to use one of these things?” she asks, and is met with silence.

“Oh, fantastic,” Joker scoffs, looking around. “First Kaidan forces us to go on this dumb trip to some backwater, uncolonized planet, then we have to deal with the shuttle pilot from hell, and now THIS? This vacation just keeps getting better and better.” His voice takes a high tone, imitating Shepard. “I think it’ll be _fun_ guys, who wants to stay on the _station_ , when we can go to this DEATH TRAP IN THE MIDDLE OF FUCKING NOWHERE!”

“I think it’s cute,” Tali replies, picking up a yellowed photograph of a young family from a nearby shelf and examining it. “Very twentieth century Earth. It’s just like in the vids!”

“Your optimism is inspiring,” Joker says dryly. “Can someone just call up the greaseball shuttle operator? Let’s go back to the station and drown ourselves at the bottom of a bottle on the Normandy all week.”

He activates his ‘tool and looks expectantly at Kaidan, who shrugs and looks at Shepard. Sighing, she shakes her head as he attempts to dial.

There’s nothing but static on the line. Frowning, he tries again, as thunder booms in the distance.

Still, there’s static.

“The storm must be interfering with the comms system,” Tali offers, leaning over and peering at Joker’s ‘tool over his shoulder. Her eyes fly over the display, and she reaches over and taps a few commands into her own, before transferring a string of code. “Try now.”

Joker gives her a dubious look, but dutifully keys in the pilot’s digits anyway.

He groans as the sound of static once again fills the air.

“Guess you’re stuck with us,” Shepard smiles, pushing open the door on the far wall of the kitchen. “I’m going to go check out the sleeping situation.”

Ashley suddenly jumps up, darting by Shepard and into the long hallway through the door. “Dibs on bedrooms!”

“Hey!” She protests, following her friend through the door. “Doesn’t the CO get first pick?”

“Not when we’re off duty, Shepard!”

A couple hours later, Shepard is still grumbling about the room situation - and more loudly, now that the drinks are flowing.

“I still don't understand why I have to be the one to share the king bed,” she says, giving both Joker and Ashley a pointed look.

“Hey, you snooze you lose, Shepard,” Joker pauses, cracking open his sixth beer and takes a long swig. “Look on the bright side, at least you’re sharing the room with Alenko and not Wrex.”

“Small miracles,” she replies dryly, plopping down into the orange chair and throwing her feet up on the coffee table.

Wrex’s booming laughter reverberates through the room as the cabin door swings open and he steps inside, Garrus just behind him.

“You’re not so bad for a turian,” he says, clapping Garrus on the back and thudding towards the kitchen. “Where’d you guys put the ryncol?” He doesn’t wait for a reply before making his way through the door.

“How’d it go?” Kaidan asks, passing Garrus a levo drink as he settles into an unoccupied seat.

“Let’s just say Wrex’s idea of hunting is “kill it good and kill it fast”,” he shakes his head. “But if these traps work, we should have meat for tomorrow.”

Joker pumps his fist in excitement. “All _right!_ I don’t know about you guys, but I was _not_ looking forward to eating military rations this week.” A beat passes. “Sorry, Garrus.”

“The downside of being a levo on a dextro planet,” he laments.

Wrex chooses that moment to emerge from the kitchen, bottle of ryncol in hand.

“Uh, you forgot a glass,” Liara points out.

“Nope,” he answers, grinning as he raises the bottle and takes a long drink.

“My kind of party!” Ashley tosses her empty bottle aside, waggling her fingers in Kaidan’s direction. “Be a doll and pass me another beer, LT. We’ve got a lot of drinking to do if we’re going to keep up with the krogan.”

“Heh heh heh.” 

The room falls silent for a minute, save for the howling of the wind outside, and Liara looks like she’s about to say something when the door to the cabin blows open with a bang, rain pouring in.

“Shit!” Shepard shouts, jumping up from her chair, which is currently getting soaked.

“That’s some storm,” Tali says as Garrus slams the door shut.

“I’ll say.” He deadbolts the door and makes his way back to the couch. Ash scoots over, making room for him, and he smiles at her. Suddenly, there’s a loud crack of thunder, and the room goes dark.

“What the–”

“OW, that was my foot!”

“Sorry.”

“Power’s out.”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

“Do you think this place has a generator?”

“I think I saw an electrical box around back.”

“I’ll go.”

“Who said that?”

“I did.”

“Really helpful, _Joker.”_

“There we go,” Tali says, as her omnitool lights up, emitting a soft, orange glow. “Hey, where’d Wrex go?”

They all turn towards the door, which is once again open, rain soaking the putrid orange armchair and wood floor beneath it.

“Huh.” Joker turns to the group. “Someone should probably go check for a generator... and make sure Wrex doesn’t try to start it by shooting it, or we might be living in the dark all week.”

“Fuck,” Shepard says diplomatically as Kaidan runs out the door after him.

“Stupid hunk of metal,” Wrex grumbles, giving the rusty electrical box on the side of the cabin a swift kick. The rain is pouring down on him, beading as it lands on his plates and trails down his back. He turns as Kaidan approaches, his hair quickly becoming plastered to his forehead. “Power’s no good.”

“Let me take a look.”

“Sure,” Wrex shrugs, moving aside. “But I already told you it’s no good.”

Kaidan is already peering at the electrical box, fingers flying across his omnitool as he works. Frowning, he groans, rubbing his face with both hands. “Great, just great,” he says, frustration tinging his voice. “We might not be be to fix this... I’m beginning to think Joker was right, this _was_ a terrible idea.”

“Heh heh heh. I think it’s fun.”

“Wrex is right. Think of it as an _adventure._ ” Turning, they see Shepard standing behind them, her long sweater billowing in the wind. Her white t-shirt is soaked, and Kaidan can’t help but stare at the way it’s clinging to her curves. “Place like this must have a backup, right?”

“There’s a transfer switch right here.” Kaidan steps towards the panel and flips off the main circuit breakers. “So there must be a generator nearby. We find it, plug it in, flip the switch, activate the circuits we want and that should do the trick. But,” he pauses, motioning towards the empty hook next to the panel. “The cord’s missing.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Maybe in here?” Shepard asks, pointing towards the back of the cabin, where the heavy double doors of a storm cellar lay,  a thick chain and padlock sealing them shut. “Wrex, can you give us a hand with this?”

Grunting, he saunters over and snaps the chain with a quick tug, eyeing the cellar’s entrance as he reefs the heavy doors open. “You look for the cord, I’m going to go look for this generator. That hole looks _small._ ”

He thunders off around the back of the cabin, and Kaidan looks at Shepard. “I’ve got this, if you want to go inside where it’s warm... and dry.”

“Oh, and miss checking out an abandoned cellar? You _wish._ If there’s whiskey down there, I’m calling dibs,” she laughs, swinging her legs over the edge, and looking at him, a glint in her eye as she disappears from site. 

“Last one down has to– _woah!”_ Her voice echoes as it floats upward. “You have _got_ to see this.”

Kaidan lowers himself into the cellar, boots thudding as he hits the ground.

“This is so bizarre,” Shepard says, shaking her head as she looks around in disbelief. They’re standing in the surprisingly large storm cellar, which is illuminated by dim, flickering overhead lights. The cellar is filled with shelves holding an array of odd-looking devices: some are old, rusted, their intended use discernable; and others look like more recent, high-tech medical devices, though they’re unlike anything they’d seen before.

“The light is a good sign,” Kaidan says, disappearing into the maze of shelves. “It means there’s a _working_ generator on the property somewhere, and if we find it - and a cord - we can reroute the power to the cabin.”

Shepard hums in agreement, carefully walking the perimeter of the room and studying the various things housed in the cellar. She picks up a strange bi-pronged fork attached at its middle to a leather strap, turning it over in her hand. Shrugging, she sets it down, moving onto the next one: a rusted metal mask featuring an iron muzzle with a metal harness inside, where a person's mouth would go.

She studies the mask more closely, squinting in the dim light as she tries to get a better look. Shivering, she sets it down and moves over again, walking up behind Kaidan, who is eyeing an exorbitantly large pile of fertilizer bags just feet away from a number of red jerry cans.

“Holy shit,” she says as she approaches, looking at him with wide eyes. “Is that...” she trails off, staring at the objects in front of them.

“Enough ammonium nitrate and gas to blow this place sky high? Yeah,” Kaidan answers, shifting uncomfortably and rubbing his neck. He points to a scattered pile of bones. “And are those... are those _human?_ What the hell is this stuff _doing_ down here?”

Shepard shrugs. “Hell if I know. But look how clean these bones are - some nutjob collector with a death wish, maybe.” She runs a finger along one of the fertilizer bags, collecting a massive amount of dust. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s been down here in a long time.”

There’s a loud scuffling noise above them, and they exchange a glance as they turn to face the ceiling. Dust floats downwards, and Shepard coughs, waving a hand in front of her face. “Are we under the cabin right now?”

“I think so,” Kaidan replies, looking back towards the entrance. “But the square footage of this place is definitely a lot bigger.”

“Let’s find that cord and get the fuck out of here,” Shepard says, moving deeper into the cellar. “This place gives me the creeps.”

“They've been gone awhile,” Liara says, rubbing some of the dirt from the window and peering out into the darkness. “Should someone go see if they need a hand? The storm is getting worse.”

“It's Shepard and Wrex,” Ashley says from her spot on the couch, where she’s comfortably sprawled out on her back, legs dangling. “I’d be more worried about anything _else_ out there.”

Joke snorts. “Yeah, except I'm pretty sure this vacation, no, this entire _planet_ is trying to kill us.”

“Don't be so melodramatic. Besides, look on the bright side: we haven't even seen a spider yet!” There's a lightness to Ashley’s voice, and Joker narrows his eyes at her, about to reply when Garrus pipes up.

“Actually, I saw one in the bathroom earlier. It was rather big, just hanging out on the–”

“I don't want to know,” Joker snaps. “Or I'll have to pee outside in that monsoon all fucking week.”

“Aw, poor little Joker, scared of the big bad spider,” Ashley teases, sitting up and reaching over to jab his arm. “Better be careful, all alone in your room tonight...” she walks her fingers up his arm, imitating an insects crawl, making it halfway up before he slaps her hand away.

“Har har.”

“Uh guys?” Liara interrupts, voice floating over to them from the far corner of the room. Four sets of eyes turn, following her lead, and find themselves staring as droplets of water steadily drip from the ceiling, splashing onto the wood floor and dancing in the orange glow from her ‘tool.

“Oh great, just great.” Joker stands, making his way over to the small side table they'd turned into a makeshift bar, and grabs Kaidan’s bottle of Canadian Whisky.

“Wouldn't a bucket be more effective?” Liara asks.

“Oh, this is for me,” he replies, twisting off the top and pouring three fingers worth into a glass. “Step one, drink more. Step two, forget the ceiling is now a waterfall.” He downs the glass, pouring a second before falling back onto the couch.

“Okay, _I'll_ go find a bucket then.” Liara stands and heads towards the kitchen, shaking her head.

A pillow smacks him in the face, and he rubs his nose, shooting Ashley a glare as she shrugs. “Don’t be so lazy, Joker.”

He scowls, and opens his mouth, about to reply when Liara screams. Garrus is on his feet in a flash, running towards the kitchen, Ashley and Tali hot on his heels.

“Bingo,” Shepard says triumphantly, jumping down from the shelf she’d just climbed, a thick orange power cord in her hand, dust streaked across her shirt. “Do you think Wrex found the generator?”

Kaidan’s answer is drowned out by the wind as it suddenly picks up, howling through the room and bringing an icy chill with it; metal shelves rattling loudly, loose papers scattering across the room as if caught in an invisible cyclone. Thunder booms overhead and the cellar is illuminated as lightning crackles across the sky, striking down through the storm cellar doors and hitting the concrete ground.

Shepard jumps backwards in surprise, stumbling over the uneven floor. Her fingers scramble to grab something to keep from falling, connecting with a cold metal handle. In an effort to stay upright, she accidentally yanks the lever downwards, and instantly the lights go out, hot sparks sputtering everywhere, steam rising off her tee as the flames make contact with the damp fabric.

She yelps in pain, clutching at her arm, as a loud, slow squeak fills the air, followed by a rhythmic rattling sound, almost as if chains are slowly dragging a heavy gate open.

Shepard looks at Kaidan, eyes wide, when suddenly, the noise ends as abruptly as it began. The room is plunged into a shadowy silence, save for the sound of their heavy breathing.

“Well that was interesting,” Shepard’s voice cuts through the darkness. “What was that _noise?_ ” 

“Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good,” Kaidan replies. “I think we need to find that generator and get the power back up ASAP.”

Shepard hums in agreement.

The duo feel their way through the mess of shelves towards the front of the cellar, the soft orange glow from Kaidan’s omnitool helping lead the way. When they reach the entrance, Shepard pauses, examining their options - there’s no ladder in sight, and the opening is a good several feet from the ground.

She turns around, nodding upwards as Kaidan approaches. “Give me a boost?”

He moves below her, cupping his hands. She puts one foot in his makeshift foothold, placing her hand on his shoulder to steady herself. He boosts her up, and she grabs the wooden frame of the cellar’s entrance and hoists herself up, wiggling out on her stomach.

“Hey,” Shepard calls. “Looks like Wrex moved that generator over here. I’m going to plug this cord in.” 

She disappears from sight, returning a few minutes later with a huge grin on her face. “It needs a few minutes to get juicing, but I think we’re about to be back in business.”

“Great,” Kaidan says, giving her a warm smile. “Can you help me up now?”

Laughing, Shepard leans back down, eyeing Kaidan from above. “I don’t know, I leave you here and I get that nice, comfy, ginormous bed _all_ to myself,” she teases, extending a hand down towards Kaidan. “Come on.”

Kaidan jumps up, grasping her wrist. With a grunt, Shepard pulls him up, slipping in the mud as she hauls him backwards. Kaidan tumbles after her, catching himself as he lands on top of her with a soft thud, arms braced at either side of her head. She inhales sharply, her face inches from his, rain pouring down around them as time slows to a crawl. 

Kaidan’s breath is hot on her face, his eyes darkening as he looks at her, tongue darting out to wet his lips as he leans in. 

Her eyes flutter closed and she tilts her chin up in anticipation, when suddenly, a shrill scream fills the air. Shepard’s eyes pop open, and Kaidan scrambles to stand, the moment lost.

“That sounded like Liara,” he says, hauling her to her feet, and they take off towards the front of the cabin.

 

* * *

 

 

Wrex is stomping through the woods, muttering to himself as he looks around, trying to get his bearings. “Stupid varren, had to run so quickly...” He grunts in exasperation as he approaches an old tree with a split up the middle - one he’s passed by three times now.

Tuchunka is filled with craters, salt flats, and alkaline lakes, a stark contrast to the dark, deep woods on this earth-like planet. It would be difficult enough for someone unfamiliar with this sort of terrain to find their way even in the best of weather; but tonight’s storm has a dense fog seeping through the trees.

Wrex is certain he’s going the wrong way, and is about to turn back when a noise to the left catches his attention. It’s a low, guttural sound, both mechanical and beast-like; followed by heavy chains scraping along rock.

He’s so fixated on the strange sound, he isn’t watching his step, and howls in pain as thick, sturdy metal teeth bite straight into his leg, cutting through the soft muscle and tissue inside. Blood pools at the surface of each puncture, and he grunts as he works to pry the metal teeth of his own trap apart.

As soon as the noise started, it stops, and the forest falls silent, save for the pitter-patter of rain hitting the trees.

A new sound fills the air, this time, a high pitched chatter, the pitch increasing steadily and weaving it’s way through the night, pulsing and hissing like a horrific lullaby; wobbling high than low and everything in between, but without any distinct pattern.

Wrex has a bad feeling about this, he’s trapped like a caged animal, out in the open; and, with a growl, he rips the trap straight out of his leg, chunks of flesh still attached to each spike. What had once been the thick, leathery hide of his calf is now a mass of mangled muscle and blood; the white, jagged edge of a broken bone peaking out from one deeply lacerated area.

Hauling his hulking mass to his feet, he stumbles away from the sound, back in the direction he suspected the cabin was in before he’d snared his leg. Dark blood is oozing from his leg; the majority of it congealing around the break, splitting open again and again with every aching step he takes. The pain is sharp, hot; and is blooming up his leg as he goes, sharper and more intense with every movement.

Gritting his teeth, he takes another step forward and stumbles, pain searing through his body as his broken leg supports his full weight for one long, excruciating moment until he regains his footing. He can’t quite tell if the liquid he suddenly feels dripping down his leg, pooling under his feet, is blood or rainwater. Just then, a dark shadow darts through the night in his peripheral vision, flitting from tree to tree.

“WHO’S THERE?” He roars, sniffing the air as he narrows his eyes, peering into the darkness. “SHOW YOURSELF.”

The chattering suddenly crescendos in a painful, eardrum splitting frequency, and Wrex covers his ears and blindly stumbles forward as he grows dizzy, quickening his pace in a futile attempt to soften the intolerable bzzzzzzt in his ears, his body, his _brain_.

For the second time that night, he fails to notice one of the ancient hunting traps he and Garrus had found and placed so carefully, so delicately earlier. As the metal teeth sink into the flesh of his good leg, the world pitches sideways and goes dark.

 

* * *

 

 

“It’s just an earth mouse, Liara,” Ashley laughs, wrapping an arm around her friend. “I promise they’re harmless.”

Liara eyes the human, the look on her face a mixture of anxiety and hope. “Then why can it move so _fast_ ,” she asks, shuddering, “and squeeze in and out of such _tiny_ holes?”

“One of Earth’s greatest mysteries,” Joker replies, leaning against the doorframe as he takes another swig of whisky. “It’s right up there with _where do missing dryer socks go?_ ”

The door to the cabin swings open with a bang, and Joker turns his head, just in time to see Shepard and Kaidan come bursting into the kitchen, a trail of rainwater behind them.

“Is everything alright?” she asks breathlessly. “We thought we heard a scream.”

Joker snorts loudly. “Define _alright._ Nothing about this is–”

“Liara saw a mouse,” Ashley interjects, rolling her eyes at Joker. “Everything is fine. Did you find the generator?”

As if on cue, there’s a clicking noise, followed by a mechanical whirl as the room is bathed in a dim, yellow glow as the overhead lights flicker to life.

“Let there be light!” Joker cheers, raising both arms into the air as he heads back into the living room, the rest of the crew filtering in behind him, save for Kaidan, who peels off towards the bathroom in search of a towel.

Shepard watches him go, then shrugs as she stands to follow. “Not a bad idea - this shirt is literally plastered to me.”

The bathroom door is open about a foot as she passes by, and she can’t help but glance in, the sound of running water and rustling fabric drawing her attention. 

Her breath hitches as she peeks in, eyeing Kaidan through the crack in the door. He’s dressed in a fresh pair of low-slung Alliance sweatpants and not much else. His dog tags are dangling tantalizingly over his bare chest, gleaming in the light, and Shepard’s eyes follow the trail of hair down to his waistband, eye fucking the dip in his hips before flicking her gaze back up to his face. 

Kaidan is studying his reflecting intently in the mirror as he reaches up, strong hands smoothing an errant strand of hair into place. He freezes suddenly, his eyes meeting hers in the mirror’s reflection, a blush creeping up his neck.

“Uh, I just needed to grab a towel,” she says lamely, cheeks hot as he grabs one off the rack and hands it to her. “Thanks.”

She ducks her head, thoroughly embarrassed, and scurries towards the bedroom to change. 

A few minutes later, Shepard is toweling off her hair, clad in dry leggings and a tank top when there’s a soft knock at the door. 

“Yeah?” she calls, and Kaidan pushes open the door. 

“Wanted to make sure you were decent,” he says, giving her a small smile as he walks in and heads for his bag, rummaging around in it for a t-shirt. 

It takes all of Shepard’s willpower to look away while he finishes dressing, and she instead occupies herself by brushing her hair. Twice.

“So, ah,” Kaidan begins, rubbing his neck. “Which side of the bed do you want tonight? I think I might crash early. Headache.” 

“Doesn’t matter,” she shrugs. “I’m easy.” 

Kaidan’s eyes widen slightly as she speaks, and she mentally kicks herself over her choice of words. 

“If it’s okay with you then, I’ll take the window side.” 

She nods. “Works for me. I’m going to go hang out awhile longer. Goodnight, Kaidan.”

With that, Shepard heads back to the living room, her damp hair hanging in tendrils down her back and grabs a beer, popping the top off.

“Hey,” she says suddenly, frowning as she looks around the cabin. “Has anyone seen Wrex?”


	3. Chapter 3

##  DAY TWO

 The next morning, the crew is gathered in the kitchen, a thick tension hanging in the air.

There’s still no sign of Wrex, and though the rain has finally let up for the moment, a dense fog is surrounding the cabin, thunder rumbling in the distance as dark clouds hang ominously overhead.

“But he said he was coming back last night,” Tali cries, her voice rising. “Where would he have _gone_?”

“I’m sure Wrex can handle himself,” Garrus says, and Ashley nods in agreement. “He probably just got lost.”

“He’s a Krogan battlemaster, Tali,” Ashley points out as she chops celery. “And besides, even if we didn’t think he can take care of himself – which he can – we’re on an uncolonized planet. The worst thing he’s going to run into out there is a hungry varren or a squirrel.”

“Or whatever that shuttle pilot was so freaked out about,” Joker offers, and Shepard shoots him a dirty look as Tali wails.

“Not helping, Jeff.”

“What? It’s–”

“JOKER,” Kaidan says in exasperation. “Enough.”

“Fine,” he grumbles, standing and heading for the fridge.  “I’m getting a beer.”

Ashley rolls her eyes as Shepard wraps an arm around Tali, rubbing small, soothing circles on her back. “Wrex is fine, I’m sure of it. He probably went to check his traps, and got turned around. But with the storm interfering with our comms and GPS, there’s no point it trying to look for him or we’ll all get lost in this fog.”

Tali wrings her hands nervously, looking down. “I know that makes the most sense, Shepard,” she says quietly. “But what if he doesn’t come back? What if Joker’s right–”

Shepard cuts her off, exchanging a look with Kaidan. “Joker is NOT right.”

“But what if–”

“Tali,” she says gently. “There’s nothing we can do about it right now. If Wrex is lost, we’ll go look for him as soon as this fog clears.”

“I found a study last night,” Liara offers. “By the bedrooms. Maybe there’s some maps of the planet in there, so we can see what area we’re working with. Be prepared, just in case. Do you want to help me look?”

Tali nods, following her friend into the living room, the door swinging shut behind them with a soft thud.

Shepard exhales loudly, rubbing her face with her hands. “I’m going to kill Joker,” she says, shaking her head. “As if anyone in their right mind would ever think _Wrex_ is in danger.” 

  

* * *

  

When Wrex regains consciousness, he’s sprawled across the ground, groggy and disorientated. The trap that claimed his second leg is discarded a few feet away, metal teeth mangled, the device itself broken into multiple pieces.

He pulls himself upright, leaning his upper body against a thick tree trunk. Staring straight ahead, his huge, red eyes blink slowly, trying to focus through the fog. There’s a searing heat radiating across his lower body. He looks down to find the source, and roars in a mix of pain and horror.

His legs–legs that snares had sank their thick, steel teeth into, ripping straight through muscle and flesh to the bone–were gone.

Two jaggedly chewed edges remain in their place, the end of his femur perversely protruding from the bloody mass of flesh. His veins and muscles are limp and flabby, dragged out across the ground and splayed in a grotesque manner.

As if someone– _something_ –had feasted on his flesh before pulling the remnants of their meal deeper into the woods.

Grunting in pain, he rolls to his side and digs his giant hands into the ground as he pulls himself forward. Logic says he should stay where he is, alert, awake, and wait for the crew to come looking for him; but the Krogan in him is angry, bloodthirsty. His brain has kicked into survival mode. If it’s eat or be eaten on this planet, Wrex wants to be the one asking _what’s for dinner._

He drags himself across the ground, what little is left of his legs screaming in pain with each and every inch. At this slow pace, it will take Wrex days to make it back to the cabin - days he knows he doesn’t have, not if he can’t halt the bleeding, clean his wounds. Slowly, laboriously, he makes it back onto the trail he’d been following earlier. He turns to follow his tracks backwards: at least that way, he’s retracing a path he's scent is already marked on. It will be easier for Garrus to track him this way, if it comes to that.

There’s a rustling in the bush ahead, and Wrex freezes, eyes darting around, looking for something to lean against. He know he is in no shape to fight, not like this; and as long as he’s lying on his stomach, he’s a sitting pyjack, waiting to be shot. He spots a rock not too far ahead and drags himself to it, maneuvering his mangled body into a sitting position. At least this way, his back is protected, the rock acting like a shield and ensuring nothing can sneak up on him from behind.

A few feet away is a large tree branch, and, with a great effort, Wrex leans over and claws it towards him. He lifts it and takes a practice swing. It’s heavy, cutting through the air easily and quickly.

Wrex grunts in approval.

“This’ll do,” he mutters to himself, and pauses, a beat passing. “Shoulda brought my gun.”

The rustling is getting louder. Wrex narrows his eyes on the leaves as they shake, closer and closer to his location with each movement. Suddenly, a tiny furry creature with a bushy tail darts out. It’s brown in colour, two black stripes down it’s back. It zips straight past Wrex and up a nearby tree.

He almost laughs at the ridiculousness of it. A krogan, being scared by such a tiny, squishy thing. The laughter dies on his tongue as the rustling continues. Two more small creatures dart out of the bush and up the tree. They’re followed by half a dozen more just like it.

Then a second fuzzy species emerges from the bush, this one with a round tail and long ears. It’s followed by another, and another. In any other situation, Wrex might have thought it peculiar, how many of them there are. But in this moment he senses their panic. He can see it, written on their tiny features: there’s something terrifying behind them... and it’s coming this way.

The buzzing sound from earlier returns, duller, this time. As it grows louder Wrex can make out a tall, spindly creature emerging from the woods.

The thing towers over Wrex, nearly seven feet in height. It’s skin is pale, almost opaque, and leathery in texture, hanging limply off its gaunt body. Long, skinny fingers wiggle as it moves, at least twice as long as any human fingers Wrex has ever seen; each one ending in a razor sharp metallic-looking nail and crusted with dried blood.

Wrex can count each and every rib, every bone inside the creature’s thin body. It’s unlike anything he’s ever seen before, not anywhere in this galaxy, not on any planet he’s visited. It moves with a liquid fluidity. Silent. Deadly. Its mouth is twisted in a wide and grotesque grin, filled with hundreds of sharp, pointy teeth, teeth that are chattering in time with the buzzing.

The thing’s eye sockets are sunken so far into its skull Wrex can’t tell if there’s even eyes _in_ there, but with the way the creature is staring straight at him, he knows it can see, somehow.

It moves closer, and Wrex spies something dangling out of its mouth. He tightens his grip on the tree branch he’s holding as the slender creature moves closer still, his stomach dropping in recognition as he gets a better look at the beast.

Hanging from those ghastly teeth is a long strip of Krogan hide.

Wrex raises the bat in anticipation as it reaches striking distance. “That’s it,” he shouts, voice booming through the eerily quiet forest. “Come and get it, you stupid pyjack.” The creature hisses, sucking the piece of skin into his mouth and chews, loudly, lips smacking. It takes two, three more steps towards Wrex.

He swings, the trunk hitting the beast with a sickening crack. The creature emits a high pitched howl, throwing it’s head back and opening it’s mouth to the sky.

Wrex winds up, preparing to take another swing, when the creature blinks out of sight, the buzzing noise ending abruptly. Confused, he looks around, left, than right, then left again, wondering where it went.

If he had looked up, he might have seen the creature silently move into position above him, perched on the very peak of the boulder on all fours, leaning over the edge and watching Wrex closely, body tightly coiled and poised to attack.

There’s a noise from the left, and Wrex whips his head in that direction, eyes narrowing as he listens. The creature takes this opportunity to pounce off the ledge, claws extended, landing straight on Wrex’s back and instantly sinking its teeth into the soft flesh of his shoulder, tearing out a chunk and chewing.

Wrex howls in pain and tries to fling the thing off of him, but is stopped short when a second creature launches itself out of the woods at him, followed by a third, clawing at his skin and shredding where it does. Krogan hide is tough, but this thing’s teeth and claws are tougher, slicing through Wrex’s skin with an ease he never would have anticipated.

He roars in pain, struggling to gain ground over the creatures as they repeatedly tear into his flesh. Each and every claw feels like a razor blade slicing into his skin, the bites stinging painfully as his skin begins to numb.

Fight has he might, Wrex is outnumbered and, without use of his legs, outpowered; thrashing with every ounce of strength he has left as the creatures devour him alive.

* * *

 

“I think I found something,” Liara says, looking up from the drawer she’s rifling through and pulling out a small computer, turning it on. “Look, it’s a VI for the resort! There’s likely all sorts of useful info on here.”

She sets it on the desk, tinkering with the buttons as she works to boot it up. It springs to life, a barbie-like human hologram appearing above the unit’s base. “Hello, and welcome to North Pines Resort,” the VI sing-songs. “I’m your VI guide, Sarah and I’m here to help _you_. What would you like to know about?”

A number of options appear, floating above the hologram’s head, and Liara takes a moment to study them before choosing one. “Local wildlife.”

“The flora and fauna of North Pines Resort have been specially engineered to mimic that of Earth’s North American forests,” Sarah says, far too chipper. “There's a wide variety of wildlife to see during your visit. In fact, there are over 200 species in the woods, including deer, squirrels, rabbits, ducks, and more! You might even spot a wolf or bear, if you're lucky. But don't worry - our scientists have carefully and genetically altered each dangerous species, ensuring that a bear is no more of a threat to any of our visitors than a chipmunk or pyjack would be.”

“Hear that, Tali?” Liara says, turning and giving the quarian a smile. “No dangerous wildlife here. I bet Shepard is right, and Wrex is just lost with all the rain and fog.”

Tali hums, and Liara can tell she's not convinced. Liara turns her attention to the options again, and selects another one.

“Weather and Ecosystem,” Liara says, and the VI blips to life once more. “The local weather patterns here are just like the ones on Earth,” she chirps. “This includes sun, rain, wind, and sometimes even _snow_. But don’t worry - the temperature usually remains moderate, the storms are never too strong, and our powerful systems will always remain online, no matter what.”

“Seriously?,” Joker says, and Tali and Liara turn to see him hovering in the doorway. “I don’t think this shitstorm outside qualifies as ‘moderate’ or ‘not too strong’... and those systems are _definitely_ failing.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure I understand your question!” Sarah chirps, and Joker snorts, shaking his head.

“You are right about the systems, Joker,” Liara says. “I wonder what’s wrong with them?”

“Considering it looks like no one set foot on this planet since the Prothean era, I’m not surprised,” he says.

Tali tilts her head thoughtfully, considering the situation, suddenly standing up straight and visibly brightening. “The controls are probably over by that office building attached to the lodge! If we can find them, maybe we can generate enough power to fix the comms issue and find Wrex!”

“Great idea, Tali,” Joker says sincerely. “And if we get the main systems up and running, we’ll be able to call what's-his-face and get off this planet early!”

Tali turns to Liara. “I’m going to go and check it out,” she says excitedly. “This is a great lead.”

“I’ll come with you,” she replies, powering down the VI and pocketing the base. “And I will bring Sarah, just in case we have any questions she might be able to answer.”

“Good luck guys,” Joker calls as they leave, setting his beer down on the desk and looking around the room. Besides the desk and chair, the room is sparsely furnished. The walls are lined with bookshelves, and there’s a small loveseat to one side. Despite it being midday, the room is bathed in yellow light, the lack of windows shrouding the room with a heavy dimness.

He turns his attention to the bookshelves, which are filled with old paperbacks - a rare find in this day and age. “Let’s see if there’s anything interesting here,” he says, to no one in particular, as he begins to paw through the contents.

Liara coughs and waves a hand in front of her face as she climbs over a pile of debris in the main office.

Truth be told, there’s not a lot of “office” left, but ever-determined Tali wanted to be certain nothing could be salvaged before they turned back, quickly scaling the caved-in wall and disappearing into the mess.

Reaching up, she grabs a piece of concrete and pulls herself over the top, a loose brick tumbling down to the ground as she does so. Once she’s cleared the other side, she still can’t spot her friend, but an interior door a few feet away - luckily, only half buried by junk - is open, and she can hear someone rummaging around inside.

Liara carefully slides down the pile of rocks and dirt she’s on, landing at the bottom with a soft _thud_ and makes her way through the door. She turns around slowly, studying the room they’re in. The cool air and lack of windows, combined with the distance she’d just slid down, leads her to believe this room is situated underground.

“It appears this place has quite the high tech security system,” she says, nodding towards a number of dead screens mounted on the wall to her left.

Tali hums in agreement from her position at the back of the room, not looking up from the console in front of her, fingers flying over the controls. “Power’s on in this room, even though the system is down,” she says. “It must have it’s own power supply separate from the lodge and cabin.

“That would make sense, if it’s the central hub for this place.” Liara turns her attention to the wall on her right, just a few feet away from where Tali is working. There’s a huge, metal door at the back with a small window covered by thick, metal bars on both sides. She shivers, uneasy at it’s appearence. It looks heavy, and solid: the kind of door you’d see in a high-security prison, not in the control centre at a vacation destination.

She moves over to the door, peering through the window. It’s dark inside, and the bright overhead lights in the control room are making it difficult to see any significant details of the chamber, but the ceilings are high - much higher than the room they’re presently in, and there’s a huge, rectangular opening at the back, beginning halfway up the wall; large, heavy chains on either side.

Liara opens her mouth to call Tali over to take a look, but suddenly thinks better of it, remembering her friends nervousness. Instead, she pulls out the VI and turns it on.

“Hello, and welcome to North Pines Resort! I’m your VI guide, Sarah and I’m here to help _you_. What would you like to know about?”

“Do you have any information on systems control center?” she asks, and the VI blips.

“Authorization code required.”

“Of course,” Liara sighs, setting the VI down on a nearby table and moving towards Tali, who has connected her ‘tool to the console and is uploading a string of code. “Any luck?”

“Just about,” she replies. “There were a few corruptions, but I think this should patch them.”

No sooner than she had finished speaking, an alarm blares as the console springs to life, turning red. In the middle of the screen, in big, bold letters, flash the words “EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM”.

“The patch isn’t done yet,” Tali shouts over the noise of the alarm. “This should all resolve once it―” she cries out in pain, as her omnitool suddenly explodes in a burst of sparks and small flames.

Liara jumps into action, grabbing Tali’s arm and yanking the ‘tool off, tossing it to the floor. She quickly stomps on it to put out the flames, and looks at Tali apologetically, but that quickly turns into a look of concern.

Tali’s envirosuit is smouldering, and half of the lower arm is positively wrecked, burned straight through in multiple spots. In the centre of the mess is a large, gaping hole, her iridescent blue-blush skin is exposed and shimmering in the bright light.

Liara runs over and carefully grabs Tali’s hand, assessing the damage. Angry looking red burns are scattered across her arm, skin bubbling in some areas, slightly blackened in others. Liara sighs heavily, looking up at her friend with concern. “We need to get some medigel on your arm and try to seal the breach.”

“The medigel will help, but I’m not sure this will be able to be sealed properly,” Tali replies, a nervous edge to her voice. “And with the burns, I’m bound to get sick regardless. But we can worry about this after we get the systems up and running. It looks like the code transfer finished before the fire.”

“I’ll stay here and finish up, you should go back to the cabin and treat your arm.” Liara moves over to the console, tapping in a series of commands that kills the alarms. “I can finish up in here.”

Tali nods gratefully. “I can send Kaidan over if you think you could use an extra hand,” she offers.

Liara smiles at her friend. “I think I can manage from here, but if I run into trouble I will come back and get him.”

“Okay,” Tali agrees, heading towards the door and grabbing hold of one of the rocks. She disappears up the debris pile, and Liara turns her attention back to the console. Though the alarm has stopped, the screen is still flashing the emergency signal, and Liara frowns.

“I wonder if this signal isn’t related to the corrupted files after all?” She taps at a few keys, sighing when nothing happens. She’s about to try a different sequence when the VI chirps to life beside her.

“WARNING! WARNING!” Sarah’s voice booms through the room, louder and more serious than before. “CENTER COMMAND HAS ACTIVATED EMERGENCY SYSTEMS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. PLEASE REMAIN CALM AND PROCEED TO THE RENDEZVOUS POINT.” Sarah disappears, and a map of the planet appears, outlining a path through the woods and up an escarpment to a shuttle site.

Liara pales, staring at the VI as the security screens start powering on one by one, each displaying the same emergency warning. She quickly grabs the VI, turning it off, and turns to study the screens; there’s six in total.

Three appear to be static split screen security cameras, each showing various angles of exterior doors and windows of the lodge, cabin and main office. The other three have small arrows on the bottom, implying the image can be changed. One is focused somewhere in the woods, and the second is focused on what she assumes to be the common area of the lodge, based on the lack of roof and tree growing through the wooden floor.

Her stomach sinks as she looks at the final screen - because on it, she’s watching her friends move about the cabin’s living room. She reaches up, and hits the arrow. Suddenly, she’s looking at the empty kitchen. She hits the arrow again. Joker and Ashley, in the study examining a book. She continues flipping through, and it seems there’s a camera in every room of the cabin.

Liara turns her attention to the screen displaying the forest, and begins flipping through the various cameras. Each and every one is a different spot: and there are a _lot_ of cameras out there it seems.

She freezes as she hits next again, gasping in horror, the colour draining from her face as she stares at the latest image on the screen. There, in the centre, is one long, bony leg. She swallows down the bile rising in her throat as she touches the middle of the screen and drags the image, panning the camera.

The VI she was holding clatters to the floor as she realizes she is staring at the very clean, fresh and unweathered, bones of a Krogan.

“Goddess help us,” she breathes, stepping back in shock, her eyes welling with tears as she realizes what all this means.

Movement on one of the static cameras catches her attention as a low, dull chatter fills the air, causing the debris pile outside the room to vibrate.

Liara stares at the screen in horror, her biotics flickering to life as she watches several terrifying, skeletal creatures sliding across the forest floor and into the front office area, blocking her exit.

She whips around and races to the metal door, manually undoing the multiple deadbolts keeping it shut.

The chattering noise is becoming increasingly louder, and taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, she glances behind her, huffing the air out in relief. The creatures, _whatever_ they are, have not made it down to her level, but with the way the rocks are tumbling she's certain they'll be in the room in seconds.

She reefs the door’s handle, but it doesn't budge. Frantically, she runs through her options as the chatter turns into a high pitched whine, and she covers her ears with her hands as she tries to think.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spies the first creature appear in the doorway. It lets out a high-pitched cry, something between a howl and a whine, and Liara whips around, throwing it backwards into the debris with as much biotic force as she can muster. The creature slams into the pile, rocks cascading down on top of it, burying it under a pile of rubble.

She turns towards the console Tali had worked so hard to activate earlier, preparing to fry the system and, hopefully, overload the electronic lock on the chamber door. There's more right behind that... _thing_ , and she's not even certain she killed the first one, but it's at least bought her a few precious moments. 

Liara’s biotics spring to life as she pulls as much dark energy as she can, pulling her arms backwards as she launches the heaviest warp she can manage, immediately followed by a shockwave. The console explodes in a fireball of bright, white light, the force of it sending her flying back into the wall as the screens go dark. She scrambles to her feet, breathing a sigh of relief as the door swings open, rushing through and pulling it shut behind her.

“Shit,” she mutters, examining the door. There’s no way to lock it from the inside, nothing in the chamber she can use to jam it shut. Liara darts to the back of the room, standing underneath the thick chains controlling the door to the outside on the back wall.

Her only way out it to climb. She flexes her fingers, grabbing hold of one of the chains when the door creaks open, that same high-pitched chattering filling the room and reverberating off the concrete walls as the creatures flood into the chamber.

Whirling around, Liara tosses a shockwave at the group, sending them careening backwards as she turns her attention back to the chains and grabs hold for a second time.

A dark shadow moves into the doorway above her, and she looks up; only to find herself staring into the gaunt and hollow eyes of one of those things. She shrinks backwards in fear as it leans down, scraggly hair hanging off it’s scalp. It’s breath is hot and putrid on her face as it opens it’s mouth and lets out a hollow, scratchy yowl before launching itself off the ledge towards her.

One of the creatures’ razor-sharp nails scratches her face, narrowly missing her eye as she stumbles backwards; slamming into a slimy, boney feeling mass of skin, the hiss of raspy lungs and telltale chattering filling her ears. Summoning the last bit of biotic power she can harness, sh _e throws_ both creatures away from her and darts back towards the command centre, heading for the main exit.

She scrambles to grab onto the nearest rock and starts to haul herself upwards when a cold hand wraps itself around her ankle, yanking hard.

Liara clings to the rocks, struggling to hold on, as the creature pulls harder this time, snapping her leg with a sickening crack. She yelps in pain as she loses her grip and is reefed backwards, the remaining rocks cascading down and sealing the main entrance to the room as she gasps for air.

Using her good leg, she kicks one of the creatures away and struggles against another one pining her down, crying out as pain blooms through her shoulder as it sinks it’s sharp teeth into her soft, blue flesh and tears a chunk out, lips smacking as it chews.

While the creature is distracted, she attempts to roll onto her back and sit up, gathering the last bit of her biotics she can manage and sending the thing as far backwards as she can throw it. She’s considering her next move when a loud rumble from above catches her attention, and she looks up as the creatures howl and scramble backwards into the chamber, scaling the wall with ease.

Tears prick at the corner of her eyes as she sees what scared them, realizes she’s not making it out alive as dust and debris raining down, a long, spidering crack spreading through the ceiling above her as the old, rotting floor above collapses on top of her.

 

* * *

 

“Man, they really tried hard to make this place feel like an old-timey earth lodge,” Joker mutters as he examines the rows of books in the study. He pulls one out and eyes it, making a small noise. “War and Peace? Yeah, ‘cause _that’s_ a vacation read.” He puts the offending book back, and moves down the row, shaking his head.

“Proust? And I thought the last one was bad... Ulysses? God, who picked these books... hey now, what's this?"

Joker moves the Joyce novel aside, and reaches to the far back of the shelf, pulling out a small, thick book; the cover a strange patchwork of leather held together by a handful of crude stitches. The pages are filled with some sort of ancient script, coupled with horrifying drawings of monsters, demons, and occult symbols.

“Oh hell no," he mutters, flipping the pages and shaking his head. “This is totally... oh fuck, look at this, there’s even fucking pages missing. HEY GUYS?” he shouts, not looking up from the book as Ashley appears in the doorway. “I THINK I FOUND SOME SORT OF DEMON BOOK. YOU KNOW, THE KIND IDIOTS PROBABLY SUMMON ALL SORTS OF EVIL WITH?”

Ashley snatches the book out of his hand. “Oh come on Joker, you can’t be serious,” she laughs, flipping through the pages. “That kind of shit only happens in vids.”

“Oh yeah?” he challenges, reaching for the book, but Ashley jumps back, turning her body and blocking his arm as she darts into the living room, leaving Joker shouting after her. “Tell that to whatever thing ate Wrex, and is probably about to get Tali and Liara. I’m telling you, this planet is trying to _kill us._ ”

Shepard rolls her eyes from her spot on the floor as Ashley rushes over, plopping down next to Garrus.

“What is that?” he asks, peering over Ashley’s shoulder.

“I’m not sure. Some sort of weird book. But it feels like there’s something hidden inside the back cover.” Excitement tinges her voice as she runs her finger along the inside edge of the spine, slowing where the material bulges outwards slightly. “I need something to open this with.”

“Let me,” Garrus says, and Ashley hands the book over, ignoring Joker’s squawking protests from behind them.

“Uh, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Kaidan asks, a look of worry flashing across his face as his eyes dart to Joker and then back to Ash.

“Nope,” Ashley grins cheekily as Garrus carefully cuts into the cover with one of his talons, pulling out a mess of yellowed papers folded in half, the edges stained with reddish-brown fingerprints.

Ashley grabs the papers from him and unfolds them, flipping through the pages. Most are filled with dark ink blotches, obscuring whatever might have previously been visible. Those still legible seem to feature crude drawings of tall, slender, horrific looking creatures. Shivering, she reaches the last page, where there’s a strange script scrawled in red ink.

“Khan...dar Estrada khandos thrus indactu,” she reads outloud, stumbling as she tries to pronounce the unfamiliar words. “Nosfriend– _Nosfrandus_ khandar dematos khandar.”

“My translator glitched,” Garrus says, frowning as he moves to study the pages over her shoulder. “What did you say?”

“That’s because it wasn’t english,” Joker mutters in irritation, heading towards the kitchen, voice raising as he goes. “And I’m pretty sure she just summoned some ancient, cosmic evil that will smite us all, so I’m getting a beer before it arrives to start the bloodbath.”

Shepard shakes her head, sighing with exasperation as the kitchen door slams shut. “Is he _ever_ going to give it up?”

“Well, we found the central command, and even got the systems booted up, so we might be able to leave soon if Liara can fix whatever’s jamming the comms,” Tali’s voice is strained as she steps into the cabin, arm clutched to her chest.

“Jesus Tali, what happened?” Kaidan exclaims, jumping up and rushing over to the quarian.

“‘tool fire,” she shrugs, extending her arm as Kaidan examines the damage. “Probably from overworking it to get the command centre up and running. I don't think the suit can be easily repaired with my patch kit, though” she says sadly. “It’s designed for small tears, and regardless I think some of the electrical nodes are melted, which means it won't seal completely even with omnigel.”

Kaidan exchanges a glance with Shepard over Tali’s shoulder.

 _This is bad,_ she mouths, disappearing into the back hallway, reemerging a few minutes later with the medigel and Tali’s emergency patch kit.

She silently applies the medigel while Kaidan examines the patch kit. “You're right, there's not enough material here to patch the entire area,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I'll do what I can, but...” he trails off, clearing his throat before continuing. “How bad is this going to be?”

Tali shrugs. “I'm going to get sick. Probably pretty fast, with the degree of the burns and lack of suit coverage. I have immuno-boosters I can take, which will help a little.”

“Do you have antibiotics?”

She shakes her head. “It’s lucky I even have immuno-boosters here.” She pauses, shoulders slumping slightly as she raises a hand to her head. “I don’t feel so great,” she admits. “It might just be nerves, but...”

“It’s been a long day for all of us,” Shepard says, wrapping an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

They disappear into the back hall, the room falling silent for a moment, before Ash speaks up. “Someone should search the main lodge and office for meds. I can head over there and see what I can scrounge up.”

“I’ll come with you,” Garrus offers, standing up. “Besides, Liara might need a hand.”

Ashley snorts. “Leave it to Garrus to find something to calibrate on _vacation._ ”

Kaidan lets out a puff of air. “I’m not so sure this counts as a vacation at this point,” he admits, shaking his head. “It’s already nightfall, Wrex is missing, this weather is a _nightmare_ , the comms are still down, Tali is looking at a serious illness...” he trails off, sinking into the orange armchair, head in his hands. “This is all my fault,” he groans.

“Oh, come on Kaidan,” Ash says, moving to crouch next to him. “You can’t possibly blame yourself for any of this. Besides, it’s not like anything _really_ terrible has happened. We’ve got food, we’ve got booze, we’ve got great company, and we’re all alive and kicking. Things could be way worse.”

“I guess you’re right,” he says slowly, head still in his hands. “But it doesn’t make me feel any better about any of this.”

“Well, pour yourself a glass of whiskey, stop thinking like negative Nancy, and hang out with Shepard while we’re gone,” Ash waggles her eyebrows, lowering her voice. “I _know_ that always make you feel better.”

Kaidan raises his head at that, shooting her a dirty look. Ash grins cheekily, hopping to her feet. “And that’s my cue to leave,” she says, grabbing Garrus’ hand and pulling him towards the door. “Wish us luck!”

“Who's Nancy,” Garrus asks they exit the cabin, “and why is she so negative?”


	4. Chapter 4

##  DAY THREE

 “No _way,_ ” Shepard hisses, eyes darting back towards the door leading to the bedrooms. “We are _not_ telling Tali. She’s got enough to worry about, she’s already running a fever.”

“You don’t think she’s going to notice she hasn’t seen Liara since yesterday night?” Ashley shoots back. “We _have_ to tell her what Garrus and I found. That, that...” she trails off, her eyes welling with tears as a hand flies to her mouth, choking back a sob.

“...that no one could have survived that cave in,” Garrus finishes softly, wrapping an arm around Ash and giving her a hug.

Shepard vehemently shakes her head, turning away, jaw clenched as she visibly tries not to cry.

“We don’t know for sure Liara was down there when the building collapsed,” Kaidan counters, glancing towards Joker, who scoffs from the seat next to him as he speaks. “She might have already left.”

“Yeah? Then _where is she?_ ” Joker demands. “Why hasn’t she come back? We can’t _lie_ to our friend about this. And Wrex is still missing. There’s something seriously weird going on here, I’ve been saying that since the beginning.”

He begins rattling off proof points, counting them off on his fingers as he goes. Kaidan runs his hands up his face, leaving his head in his hands, staring at the floor as Joker rambles.

“There’s the creepy shuttle pilot that didn't want to fly here. This insane weather, which is also _coincidentally_ blocking our comms. Our strongest, most bad-ass crew member - sorry, Shepard - has been _missing_ for over 24 hours. Our _smartest_ crew member is killed in a mysterious cave in. Not to mention the—”

Ashley throws her hands up in the air, cutting him off. “GIVE IT UP JOKER,” she snaps. “There is no such thing as monsters, they don’t sleep under the bed, they’re not hiding in the woods,” she waves her hand towards the living room window for emphasis, stomping over to it and yanking it open, rain splattering in and hitting the floor as a mechanical chattering sound fills the room.

She turns to face the others, not caring that the only person watching her at this point is Joker. “THERE’S. NOTHING. OUT. THERE.” she shouts, pointing out the window.

“Well not right _now_ ,” he mutters, turning away. The room is silent, save for the pitter-patter of rain on the roof, and the chattering noise, which is growing louder by the second. No one is daring to look another in the eye, at a loss over what to make of their situation, over what to do next.

No one notices as one slender, bony arm grabs the edge of the window frame. A second arm follows, razor sharp nails digging into the wood as the creature outside the cabin slowly pulls itself upward, hollow eyes fixated on Ashley’s back.

“GOD, you’re impossible,” she grumbles, shaking her head at Joker and rolling her eyes. “And what the _fuck_ is making that bloody noise?” She reaches behind her, slamming the window shut, whacking the creature in the head and sending it careening backwards and out of view as she does so.

A heavy silence fills the room, before Garrus clears his throat, raising his eyes to look at Ash. “Shepard’s right,” he begins cautiously. “Tali’s body doesn’t need the extra stress, not when she’s fighting an infection already.”

Ashley frowns, but doesn’t argue it further.

“What we need now,” he continues, a little more confidently, “is a plan. To find Wrex, fix the comms, and get Tali help. And I think I've got one.”

 

* * *

 

Tali is tossing and turning in bed. No matter how she tries to lie down, which way she faces, she can't get comfortable. Everything hurts. Her skin feels like it's smouldering, her face feels clammy, her heart is racing, and her breathe is laborious, wheezing.

She's scared, though she doesn't want to admit it, doesn't want to worry her friends. She downplayed the risk associated with that type of injury, that open wound exposure when Kaidan asked: worse, she knows next to nothing about the environment on this planet, except that it's “earth like”. There's no way of knowing what minuscule toxins or germs may be present here, what she might have been exposed to.

Grunting, she flips over in bed again, reaching for a pillow. There's a faint chattering noise outside her window, and she swears the pitch is changing, intonating up and down like a voice might. Whatever’s making that incessant sound, it's keeping her up, and she slams a pillow over her head to try and muffle it, the sudden darkness making her eyelids droop, as she realizes perhaps she is tired, after all.

Tali wakes hours later with a gasp, arms flailing as she fights an invisible intruder, heart pounding.

She frantically looks around the room, but there's no one else in there. She slowly counts her breathes in and out, trying to regain control of her senses.

“I'm safe, I'm safe,” she mumbles, pulling her knees to her chest as she continues to breathe deeply, in and out, in and out.

Her assailant must have been a figment of her imagination, there's no way anyone could have gotten in— she jumps off the bed, crashing into the wall with a thud as she realizes her window is open: not just the blinds, which she swore she shut, but the entire window itself, rain pouring into the room, pooling on the floor and trickling towards the bedroom door.

There's long, deep scratch marks in the frame and she frantically tries to remember if they were there before, when a shadowy movement on the ceiling catches her attention.

She looks up, a scream catching in her throat as she realizes there's a tall, dark figure clinging to the ceiling in the corner of the room, it’s head twisted in a grotesque manner as it stares at her with unseeing eyes.

It's hideous; pale, opaque skin hanging off its bony frame. Tali can't think, can't breathe, she’s frozen in place as the creature scrambles down the wall, drawing itself to it’s full height - it must be over 7 feet tall - and turns its face further towards her, slowly, a sickening _crack, crack, crack_ reverberating through the empty room as it moves, as if the disks in its long spine are slowly snapping into place.

It's hollow eyes fixated on her, it opens its mouth and lets it a horrific, guttural howl, sharp teeth glistening in the light, foul smelling saliva dangling off each and every tooth.

The creature flings itself across the room at her, and Tali finally screams, squeezing her eyes shut as she prepares for the worst.

A beat passes, than another, and another, and she counts to ten before opening one eye, cautiously, and peering around the room. Nothing seems out of the ordinary; there’s no one - and nothing - in there with her. The room is silent, dull and dim save for the grey daylight creeping in underneath the drawn blinds, that same faint chattering sound originating from the edge of the window.

Tali frowns. She swears the blind was open moments ago, that it was dark outside― suddenly, the realization dawns on her that it's a new day, and she wonders absentmindedly if Liara successfully repaired the comms; though the fact she’s still in the cabin is a silent answer to that unspoken question.

There’s a whispering at the edges of her mind, soft, soothing; yet sharp at the same time. An uneasy feeling washes over her, and she glances around the room, almost expecting to see someone standing at the foot of the bed, but the room is empty.

 _Tali,_ a melodic voice whispers, and she whips her head around, eyes narrowing. “Who’s there?” she asks, but there’s no answer. “Of course there’s no answer,” she mutters, shaking her head, convinced she’s hearing things, wondering if the fever is worse than she initially thought.

 _Taaaaali_ , the voice singsongs, multiple tones harmonizing as it speaks, this time, right next to her ear. _Taaaaaaali, we need you to come out here._

“Shepard?” she calls tentatively, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and making her way to the door. “Shepard, is that you?”

She pulls the bedroom door open, and stumbles into the back hallway, grasping the moulding on the wall to steady herself as she makes her way to the living room.

She hears the shower running as she passes the bathroom, steam creeping under the doorway. Next door, Joker’s door is open, and when she peeks her head in, the room is empty.

There's a skittering noise behind her, and she whirls around as a tall, spindly person darts into Kaidan and Shepard’s bedroom, slamming the door shut as she approaches.

She swears she hears Shepard giggling as she pauses outside. “Shepard?” she calls again, knocking on the door. There’s no answer, but she tries the knob anyway.

“That’s strange,” she says out loud, frowning as she wiggles the knob. The door is locked, but she doesn’t remember seeing locks on any of the bedroom doors.

She knocks again, louder this time, and hears Kaidan shushing Shepard. “She’ll hear you,” he hisses.

“Kaidan? I know you’re in there,” she says, and waits for a reply, but there’s nothing but silence from the other side of the door.

 _You know they don’t want to talk to you, Tali,_ the voice whispers, and she thinks it sounds a little like Liara, but both muffled as if underwater and echoing as if in a large, empty chamber. _They don’t want to talk to me, either. We’re not human like they are._

She whirls around, half expecting to see the asari behind her, but the hallway is empty. She continues towards the living room and swings the door open, finding Shepard, Kaidan, and Garrus crowded around the dining table, studying topographical maps divided into grids, points of interest spattering the surface.

“...if the theory Garrus has is right, the emergency evac site should be on one of the elevated sites, somewhere within this area,” Kaidan’s saying, drawing a thick, black circle on one of the maps, five markers captured inside it. “And with any luck, there’s still a functioning shuttle or two left.”

There’s a dark, ominous shadow hovering above them, near the ceiling. At first, Tali thinks it’s a trick of light, a trick her mind is playing on her, but she watches as it smoothly weaves it’s way around the group, expanding and contracting in a very un-shadowlike way.

She swears it’s chattering at her.

“Do you guys not see that?” she asks, pointing above them. Three sets of eyes turn upward, than look at her, concern written over all their faces.

“See what, Tali?” Ashley asks gently, and she frowns. She swears Ashley wasn’t there a minute ago, but there she is, sitting next to Shepard; Kaidan rising from his seat across the table as he looks at her with concern.

The rest of the seats are empty, and she looks around the room for Garrus. “Was he even here?” she murmurs, and Shepard gives her a quizzical look.

“Was who here, Tali?”

 _Ask them what they’re doing,_ the voice says, and the cloud pulses along with each and every word, drifting lazily overhead as tendrils trail towards her, brushing against her.

It feels cool against the sensors of her envirosuit, like a winter breeze, and she shivers.

“What are you guys doing?” she asks, but before anyone can answer, she sees the bulk of a krogan pass by the window, near the forest’s edge. She bolts towards the door.

“TALI,” Shepard shouts, jumping up and chasing after her. “Where are you going?”

Tali ignores her, flinging the cabin door open and running out into the rain. Wrex is nowhere to be seen, but the chattering noise is louder, out here. She wonders if Wrex is nearby, if he’s cold and injured, if that’s his _teeth_ chattering she hears.

“WREX,” she screams, spinning around as she looks for the krogan. “WREX, WHERE ARE YOU?”

 _They made him leave, and they made Liara leave. They’re going to make you leave next,_ the voice sing-songs. _They don’t want you here. You’re not like them._

A hand is on her shoulder, and she jerks away, stumbling backwards as if she’s been burned. Shepard is staring at her, wide eyed and frozen in place. She exchanges a glance with Kaidan, and in that moment, Tali becomes convinced the voice is telling her the truth. The forest is spinning, she feels dizzy, struggling to stay upright.

She hears someone sobbing, in the distance, and feels sick with worry, wondering what they did to Liara, what they might do to _her_ next.

“Don’t touch me,” she gasps, tears pricking her eyes, as she realizes the person sobbing, is her. “I know you don’t want me here. Where’s Wrex, where’s Liara? What did you _do_ to them?”

“Tali,” Shepard says gently, palms upward, as she takes a small step in her direction. Tali shrinks backwards, and Shepard stops moving. “Okay, okay, I won’t come closer. But Tali, you know I would _never_ do anything to hurt you, or Wrex, or Liara. You’re sick, sweetheart. Please, come back inside.”

Garrus appears by her side, and she runs to him, collapsing against him with relief. “Garrus, oh Garrus,” she sobs, grabbing onto his shirt. “I thought they got rid of you, too.”

“Who did?” he asksbut Tali doesn’t answer, just continues to sob, burying her face in his shoulder, missing the concerned look he shoots Shepard.

“Where’s Liara, where’s Liara?”

“Shhhhh,” he soothes, rubbing small circles on her back as he gives her a hug. “Let’s get you inside and back to bed, hmm?”

Sniffling, she nods, but shrinks backwards as Shepard steps towards her. “Not with you,” she says, and Shepard freezes in place.

“Come on,” Garrus says, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and leading her back towards the cabin, leaving the three humans outside in the pouring rain.

“Well, that was fucked up,” Ash says flatly. “We better find Wrex, and find these emergency shuttles _fast.”_

* * *

  

“Don’t leave me here,” Tali whimpers, and Garrus sighs. He’s been sitting on Liara’s empty bed in their shared room for almost an hour now, but no matter what he does or says, Tali won’t settle down, won’t try to sleep.

She’s terrified, but irrationally so, convinced the four humans are somehow responsible for their vacation turning sideways, won't trust anyone but Garrus.

“You need to get some rest,” he says, for what feels like the millionth time.

Tali doesn't respond. She's staring off to the far door of the room, blankets clutched in her hand.

“Did you see that?” she whispers. “Run by the door?”

He glances over towards the door and frowns. There's nothing there,the door swung halfway shut, hallway empty. “See what?”

“It was a... tall, very tall person.”

“Kaidan?” he offers. He's the tallest human here, after all.

Tali shakes her head vehemently. “It wasn't human. Tall, thin. Boney.” She shrinks backwards as she speaks, pulling the covers up to her chin and going quiet for a moment. When she speaks again, her voice is small. “It didn't have eyes. Just holes. It was in my room earlier. It tried to attack me.”

“I don't think there's anything like that in here, Tali,” he says gently. “We would have noticed.”

Tali hums her disapproval, she does not sound convinced.

She tilts her head sideways suddenly, as if someone is whispering in her ear.

“Can you go check the hallway?” she asks quietly, voice suddenly steady, the nervousness gone. He narrows his eyes slightly in suspicion.

It seems odd, this abrupt change of heart, the fact Tali is now suddenly seemingly not only okay with him exiting the room, but is asking him to go. Regardless, he agrees, and makes his way to the door.

He steps into the hallway, and looks both ways. He can hear the quiet murmurs of the others in the living room to his left, where they’re solidifying the final details of his plan. To his right, the hallway is the same, long, dark and dusty hallway it’s always been, and there’s no sign of anyone, anything, out there.

He makes his way down the hall, checking each room as he goes, when suddenly there’s a loud _bang_ behind him as Tali’s door slams shut. Garrus runs back to the door, and tries to push it open, but it slams back shut again, as if someone is trying to keep it closed on the other side. There’s movement inside, the sound of glass shattering and fabric ripping.

“TALI,” he shouts, banging on the door, worried. “Let me in.”

There’s a strange noise on the other side, a mix between a low guttural moan and laugh, and he tries to force the door open again, but is met with the same resistance.

“ _Shit,”_ he growls, quickly going over his options. He doesn’t want to leave the door, but knows he needs to get the others - and quietly, if Tali is experiencing another feverish hallucination.

Garrus steps away from the door, and turns, about to make his way down the hall when the door to the living room flies open, Shepard and Kaidan running into the hallway.

“We heard banging,” Shepard says breathlessly, putting the pieces together as she looks from Garrus to the closed door.

“Tali’s keeping the door shut somehow,” he replies. “And it doesn’t sound good in there. She’s acting really strange.”

Kaidan moves in front of the door, and motions for the others to step back. He tries to force the door, and instantly it slams shut against him, sending him careening backwards.

His eyes flicker blue as his biotics spring to life, and he positions himself to biotically break down the door. “Stand back,” he says, harnessing the dark energy as a wave of biotic power springs from his hands, slamming against the door and forcing it open.

The three stand staring into the room, mouths agape. The room is a disaster, the mirror and photos once adorning the walls now shattered across the floor, both twin beds ripped down to mattress springs. The window is wide open, curtains billowing ominously as lightning crackles across the sky, rain pouring in and soaking what's left of the sheets.

Tali is nowhere to be seen.

“Joker might be right,” Garrus says, looking around at his for remaining friends.

Joker throws his hands out to the side. “THANK you. Finally someone with some common fucking sense.”

“There's still no such thing as monsters,” Ashley snaps back, irritation tinging her voice. “And we have no proof anything sinister is going on. We haven't seen anyone else, no footprints, no signs of life. All we have is a missing Krogan - who is more than capable of taking care of himself, a freak accident, and a sick, feverish, _delusional_ quarian who could have very well trashed the room herself.”

“But you have to admit there's something suspicious about all three incidents happening on the same planet, over like, 48 hours,” Joker retorts. Ashley glares at him, but stays silent.

“Enough,” Shepard snaps. “It doesn't really matter what's happening or why. The fact is we need to find Wrex, find Tali, and get the hell off this planet before anything else goes wrong.”

The crew nods in agreement.

“Okay then. If everyone is done squabbling, let's get this plan into action. If you—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Shepard interrupts, exhaustion written across her features. “Not right now. Whether there’s someone here, causing all this, or it’s a series of unfortunate coincidences... all that matters is that we find Tali and Wrex, get off this planet, and get Tali medical care ASAP.”

The team nods in agreement.

“Okay then. Now, first things first. Does anyone have any weapons?”

“Well, Kaidan’s got his biotics,” Joker offers up. “And we’ve got this... shooty-gun thing I found in the study.” He moves over towards the fireplace, and picks up a M-27 Scimitar.

“That’s a shotgun, Joker.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what I said!”

Shepard rolls her eyes. “Okay, great. And I brought my M-3 Predator.”

Kaidan looks at her, and shakes his head in disbelief. “You brought your gun on _vacation_?”

She smiles crookedly at him. “Probably a good thing, at this point." 

She pauses for a minute, looking around the room. “Okay, we’re going to have to amend the plan slightly, now that Tali’s taken off. Garrus, Ash - you guys are going to have the best shot at tracking her. Take my Predator, it’s in the top dresser drawer in my bedroom.”

Ash nods, and takes off towards the back to find the gun, reappearing a few moments later as Shepard continues giving orders.

“Kaidan, you and I will start following the search grid we established and see if we can’t find some evidence as to where Wrex may be. We should be fine with just your biotics, and I’ve always got my omniblade. Joker, you’ll stay here in case Tali comes back... and we’ll leave the shotgun with you, just in case,” Shepard pauses, exhaling heavily as she looks around at the group. “I hate to say this, but your safety needs to be everyone’s first priority. We shouldn’t hesitate to disable our friends in self defense if... if God forbid, it has to come to that.”

A silence falls across the room as the crew considers what this might mean.  
  
Shepard takes a deep breath, and nods. “Alright guys, let's move out.”

 

* * *

  

“I don’t like this,” Shepard says, ducking under a branch and marking the tree by tying a piece of orange fabric around it. She pushes her hair off her face for the millionth time since Kaidan and her left the comfort of the cabin - a futile effort, her ponytail no match for the strong winds and pounding rain.

“Me either,” he sighs, trailing behind her. “We’ve been out here for hours, and haven’t seen any sign of Wrex. No footprints, no signs of life...” He trails off as they approach another one of the traps Garrus had marked for them. Much like the others they’d checked so far, this one is still intact, though ensnared in the sharp teeth of this trap, is the mangled and partially eaten carcass of a varren.

Shepard wrinkles her nose at the sight. “Another dead end,” she sighs. “How much of the grid have we covered?”

Kaidan checks the map. “About half of it,” he says, moving his finger along the document as he counts markers. “And we’ve hit almost all the spots with traps Garrus marked.”

Shepard frowns, walking back over to him and peering at the map over his shoulder. “We’re not too far from another one of the potential shuttle sites,” she says, pointing about two clicks west of where they currently are. “We should check it out while we’re here.”

Kaidan nods in agreement, and they set off  towards a steeply inclined, rock covered path. They walk in silence, save for the soft squishing of mud beneath their feet and pitter-patter of rain hitting the canopy. They’ve not seen a single sign of life since they left the cabin, save for the flora of the planet, and a few dead varren in the traps. In fact, he realizes, slowing his walk, they haven’t even seen a bird or rodent. Kaidan frowns.

“Hey, Shepard,” he calls, and she stops abruptly, turning around to face him.

“Hmmm?”

“Have you noticed we haven’t seen... well, _anything_ alive since we came out here?”

Shepard tilts her head, considering his question. “You’re right,” she replies, furrowing her brow. “I can’t remember seeing anything out here. I wonder if it’s the storm that’s keeping them away?”

Kaidan shakes his head. “I grew up on Earth, Shepard. Animals might lie low during a storm, but this is... this is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. And we know there IS wildlife here...” he trails off. “I don’t know what to make of it.”

Shepard shivers. “Something about all of this feels _really_ wrong. Let’s check out that fourth site, and then head back,” she glances at the sky, clearly thinking about something. “We probably have an hour of daylight left. I don’t know about you, but I have no interest in being out here when the sun sets.”

“That we can agree on,” he replies as they pick up the pace again, rounding a corner, when Shepard stops dead in her tracks, making a frustrated noise. “Path’s washed out,” she says, nodding her head towards a wide, gaping hole in the road. It’s a long way down, the gap too wide to attempt a jump.

“Can’t go across it, can’t go around it... gotta go up it,” Shepard mumbles, grabbing onto the rockface and testing the stability. She hauls herself up partway, and the rocks hold. “I think we can climb this. Just be careful, it’s slippery."

They quickly scale the last bit, Shepard pulling herself over the ledge and out of site a couple beats before Kaidan. He hears her gasp in horror as he pulls himself up, and quickly looks in the direction of the sound.

They’ve found the emergency evac site, that much is certain, judging by the toppled fuel containers and wide landing pad. But nothing could have prepared him for the scene at the top of the escarpment. There’s bits and pieces of metal strewn across the landing pad, twisted, mangled, and shredded.

The charred, blackened body of one remaining shuttle sits to the left, the yellowed bones of the former pilot slumped over the controls. It’s clear he’s been here awhile. What’s more disturbing, though, is the large, deep scratch marks down the side of the shuttle’s doors, as if someone— or _something_ —had been trying to claw it’s way inside. Spray painted on the ground, in front of the shuttle, is an ominous message: BEWARE, it screams at them, THE REAPERMEN ARE OUT.

“We should go,” Shepard echoes his thoughts, voice low, as she takes a few slow, cautious steps backwards in his direction, a gravely rumbling sound creeping upwards from the far edge of the plateau. Kaidan winces as a high-pitched whine slowly fills the air, increasing in volume ever-so-slightly as it chatters back and forth.

Shepard takes another few steps backwards, eyes still fixated in the direction of the sound, as Kaidan’s biotics spring to life, tingling along his skin. “Climb back down, _now_ ,” he hisses, not even caring that he’s ordering his CO around. Shepard doesn't seem to care either, scrambling towards the edge as Kaidan moves backwards, positioning himself to stand watch as she scales the bluff.

Shepard sits on the edge, twisting around as she finds purchase for her feet. “Okay, I’m—” she freezes mid sentence as one long, spindly hand thumps down on the ground across the way, it’s extremely sharp nails digging into the dirt. A second hand follows, and there’s a sharp wail as the creature drags itself upwards, it’s skeletal-like head appearing over the edge of the cliff. Gaunt cheekbones frame two hollow, blacked spots where it’s eyes should be, yet it stares directly at them, snarling and snapping as it displays hundreds of razor-sharp teeth.

“GO!” Kaidan shouts, and he doesn’t have to say it twice. Shepard scrambles down the cliff, and he digs his heels into the ground, summoning his biotics as the creature clambers the final bit over the edge, drawing itself up to it’s full height, teeth chattering. Another hand slams down over the ledge, and Kaidan’s heart sinks as he realizes there’s more than one of these things. He _throws_ the creatures backwards with the full strength of his biotics, and the first monster goes flying, disappearing over the edge; the second one losing it’s grip and sliding out of site.

The chattering sounds distant, now, and Kaidan whirls around, shimming down the cliff faster than he thought possible. He hits the ground with a thud, and Shepard looks at him, eyes wild. She grabs his hand and tugs him towards the path, as the chattering sound grows louder.

“Come on,” she shouts, dropping his hand and running down the muddy trail. “I don’t want to be here when those things make it around to this side.”

“You’re not hearing me argue,” he replies, darting after her.  They run down the incline, slipping and sliding as they go, all the while the chattering of those monsters - the reapermen, according to the spray painted message - trails behind them.

Shepard stumbles, falling to the ground and sliding dangerously close to the edge as she rolls sideways, scrambling to grab onto something. Kaidan is at her side in a flash, grabbing her wrist with both hands and pulling her backwards towards him. She slams into him, and he wraps his arms around her as they both fall to the ground, landing against the edge of the rock face with a crack.

“Thanks,” she says breathlessly, as Kaidan releases her, jumping up and offering her a hand, which she grabs as he hauls her to her feet.

“Thank me when we’re safe,” he replies, and they take off again, their movements slightly slowed until they’re safely back on the forest floor.

“Which way is fastest?” Shepard asks, eyes darting around as she watches for any sign of the creatures.

Kaidan is studying the map, brow furrowed. “I think there’s a shortcut this way,” he says, pointing straight ahead, down a path they have not yet travelled. “But it’s risky, it’s going to take us by some sort of cave.”

“How much time will we save,” she asks, paling as a wail echoes through the forest, growing louder as a second, third, and fourth voice join in.

“If we keep this pace up, we’re an hour, hour and a half out if we go back the way we came, but we can do it in less than forty five if we go this way.”

Shepard nods. “Faster it is. I want to get to the cabin before those things do. We’ve got to warn the others.”

In the distance, a gunshot echoes, and Kaidan and Shepard exchange a look. “Shit,” she breathes, and Kaidan know’s they’re both thinking the same thing: that maybe they don’t need to warn their friends, after all.

They take off down the overgrown path, neither one looking back, branches scraping against their skin as the go.

 

* * *

  

Ashley groans as she enters the cabin, wringing out the base of her shirt as Garrus shuts the door behind her. “That was a total bust.” 

“Maybe Kaidan and Shepard had better luck,” he replies, walking through the living room, a trail of water pooling as he goes.

“Hey Joker?” Ashley calls, looking around. “We’re back.”

She waits, but there's nothing but silence. “That’s weird," she frowns, when suddenly there’s a rustling noise from the back hallway, and they both freeze. Garrus looks back at her, and Ashley puts a finger to her lips as she tiptoes towards the door. She’s about to reach for the knob when it flies open, Joker appearing in the frame, eyes wide with fear, the colour drained from his face.

“What’s wrong?” Ashley asks, but another voice speaks up before Joker can answer.

“Hi Ash,” Tali says, but her voice is low, gravelly - not at all the melodic lilt they’ve come to know and love - as she steps out from behind Joker, the shotgun they'd left him pressed up against his back. She forces Joker into the room, the door clicking shut behind them. The quarian is bleeding heavily, her envirosuit ripped in multiple spots, a long, infected and sickly looking gash across her stomach. Her visor is smashed, and Ashley can see, for the first time, one of Tali’s glowing white-blue eyes staring straight at her.

“Tali, what happened?” Garrus asks, careful not to move. She turns her head and looks at him.

“Garrus,” she says, voice suddenly warmer. “I didn’t see you there.” She narrows her eyes as she looks back at Ashley. “Ask _her_ what happened to me. I know those humans were behind it,” she spits, venom in her voice. “THEY sent those things after me.” Her opaque skin is flushed with fever, purple veins thrumming behind her skin, a wild, nervous energy coating her every movement.

“Tali,” he begins gently, taking a step forward. “You’re very sick—”

“DON’T move,” she snaps, looking back at him, and he freezes. “Or I’ll shoot Jeff here.”

Ashley and Garrus exchange a look. She’s never once called him by his full name before.

 _She’s lost it,_ Joker mouths at them, as the thunder cracks overhead.

Glass shatters somewhere towards the back of the cabin, and Tali whips her head around, momentarily distracted. Ashley takes the opportunity to run towards her, shoving Joker towards Garrus, his hat falling to the floor as she tackles Tali to the ground. The shotgun goes off, and Garrus cries out in pain, clutching his shoulder as Ashley wrestles Tali to the floor, straddling the quarian and pinning her arms to her side as she thrashes wildly. She kicks the shotgun out of reach with her left foot, and looks at Garrus with concern.

“I’m fine,” he wheezes, pulling his hand away and looking at the bullet hole. “Didn’t hit anything major.” Using his good hand, he grabs the shotgun, grunting as he checks the bullets. Five left.  
  
“LET ME GO,” she shrieks, struggling against Ashley. “They’re here, they’re here, I have to go, they’re here—”

There’s a wailing noise from the back of the cabin, followed by the chattering they’d heard earlier, and Ashley’s eyes widen in fear. “What the fuck is that?” she demands, looking down at Tali.

  
Tali doesn’t reply, but continues to struggle against her. She tries to grab for the predator at Ashley’s side, but Joker is quicker, snatching it away and aiming it at Tali. She stops struggling and looks him dead in the eye. “Do it,” she says, voice flat, though tinged with fear. “I’d rather you shoot me then let those _things_ at me again.”

Before anyone can reply, something slams its body into the living room door, a long scratching sound following, as if whatever is on the other side is trying to claw it’s way through. Ashley jumps up, grabbing the nearest chair and jams it under the door handle as Garrus looks around the room.

“We need to barricade this door better, and the kitchen one too,” he barks, eyes landing on the dining area. “Ash, help me move this sideboard against the door.”

Tali scrambles to her feet as they work, running towards the cabin door.

“Tali, don’t!” Ash yells after her, but it’s too late - she’s already disappeared into the rain. “Shit,” she mutters, as Joker slams the door shut and deadbolts it, checking all the windows are locked and drawing the curtains as Ashley and Garrus barricade the doors.

The scratching has stopped, and the chattering is growing fainter. Garrus can’t help but wonder if whatever it is, whatever’s out there, is chasing after Tali to finish what it clearly started.

“What now?” Joker asks, his voice shaking as he sinks into the orange armchair.

“We barricade this place even better,” Garrus says, “and hope Kaidan and Shepard are back _soon._ ”

 

* * *

 

 

Shepard slides to a stop at the edge of a clearing, breathing heavily as she looks around, letting her eyes adjust. The sun has just about set, the same grey fog from the previous two nights slowly filling the woods, right on time.

The forest is dead here, nothing but dirt on the ground, save for a handful of oak-like trees, their brown, dead branches ominously reaching towards the sky. A few feet away, to their left, is the mouth of the cave, the walls jutting up into the sky and casting a dark shadow across the clearing. As the incline dips, weaving behind them, there’s a steep drop, the sound of water rushing below. Just beyond that, the path picks up, forking in two different directions, lined with dead flora, slowly becoming greener, more alive, as the path continues in the distance.

Kaidan comes to a stop beside her, and they stand shoulder-to-shoulder, silently for a second, as they catch their breath. They can’t hear the chattering anymore, and Shepard hopes that means they’ve lost the creatures pursuing them.

“Which way?” she whispers, and Kaidan holds his hand up. He puts a finger to his lips, and points towards the wall of the cave. She follows his direction, and frowns. The wall is heavily marked, the same long scratch marks they’d seen on the side of the shuttle, and fresh blood is tracking across the ground, footprints leading from the trail towards the cave.

Kaidan tilts his head, listening. The woods are silent - too silent; and while the chattering may have stopped, the blood is not a good sign. He takes a few small steps forward, his whiskey eyes flickering blue as he readies his biotics, just in case. Shepard readies her omniblade as she follows him.

They creep forward, careful to stay as far to the edge of the clearing, as far _away_ from the cave, as possible. As they tiptoe in front of the cave, Shepard turns to look into it’s mouth. It’s dark, and she struggles to make out the shapes inside. There’s a soft whimpering coming from the cave, and Shepard pauses before taking a few steps towards the entrance.

“What are you doing?” Kaidan hisses. Shepard ignores him, tiptoeing closer to the cave.

“Tali?” she calls softly. “Is that you?” The whimpering stops, and there’s a rustling noise.

“Shepard,” Kaidan warns, voice low, and she waves him off, stepping closer to the cave.

“Tali?” she calls again, a little louder this time, and she breathes a sigh of relief as she recognizes the familiar purple swirls of the quarian’s suit shrouded in the darkness. “Tali, are you okay?”

Tali lifts her head, and Shepard can’t help but gasp in horror. Her envirosuit is in tatters, her visor smashed, the exposed half of her face torn to shreds. “Don’t come any closer,” she says, and Shepard pauses.

“I want to help you, Tali. So does Kaidan,” she promises, and the quarian sniffles.

“I know, I know. But I’m sick,” she chokes out, shaking her head. “I’m sick and these things... these things...” she trails off, breaking into a sob, her body shaking. “I don’t want you to get sick,” she cries.

“We won’t, Tali,” Kaidan replies, stepping forward so he’s standing next to Shepard. “I promise. But you’ve got to come with us, it’s not safe out here—”

He stops as a wail fills the air. It’s quiet, and clearly originating from some distance away, but as far as Shepard is concerned, any distance is still too close for comfort. Tali is on her feet in a flash, stumbling out of the cave, and Shepard has to swallow another cry as she steps into the light. The quarian’s left leg is positively macerated, the opaque flesh bloody and torn, straight down to the bone. The skin around it is red and raw, blackened in some spots, puss oozing out and dripping down her leg.

“Oh God, Tali,” Kaidan says, hurrying towards her, “We need to get that cleaned and bandaged.”

Tali darts away from him, eyes wild. “It’s too late, too late, too late,” she chants, looking from Kaidan to Shepard as she backs towards the drop-off. “They’re coming for me, and they’re coming for you next.” She tilts her head, listening to something. A few seconds pass, no one daring to move, when suddenly Tali snaps out of it, locking eyes with Shepard.

“Sorry, Shepard,” she says, voice flat. She swallows thickly, before turning and rushing towards the empty sky behind her, throwing herself over the ledge.

“TALI!” Shepard screams, running after her, tumbling to her stomach and peering over the edge just in time to see Tali’s body crack against the rocks below, broken and unmoving, before being swept away by the river’s current.

Her eyes well with tears as she scrambles to her feet. Kaidan wraps his arms around her, pulling her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she sobs against him. “We’ve got to keep moving, Shepard,” he says softly, but she doesn’t move, instead burying her face into his chest.

“Jane,” he says, pulling backwards and cupping her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. “We’ve got to move,” he repeats, and she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath before nodding.

“Okay, okay,” she says, taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders. “You’re right. We don’t have time to—” her voice cracks as she continues, “—to mourn Tali right now.”

“That’s my girl,” he says, and she gives him a tight smile as he moves forward, veering to the left, the path becoming clearer and clearer as they approach the cabin.

 

* * *

 

 

“That’s the last one,” Ashley announces, hammering the final board in place against the front window and stepping back to examine her handiwork as Garrus looks on.

They don’t have dining room chairs anymore - they tore them down, using the wood to fortify the windows, and after clearing the back hallway and rooms, they’d decided to block off both Tali and Ashley’s rooms: Tali’s, due to the smashed window, and Ashley’s, which featured unnecessarily large, wall-length sliding doors that lead outside. They’s also reasoned they were farthest from the living room, around a corner, and therefore harder to monitor.

The library was safe, they figured, since it had no windows, as was the bathroom, since the two windows were far too small for anything to squeeze through.

Garrus believed the best spot to defend themselves was in the livingroom, and Ashley had agreed. So they’d gotten to work, barricading the windows in the other three bedrooms - completely closing them off - and then blocking them best they could with the bedroom furniture as an extra precaution.

Next, they had moved all the food into the living room, eradicating the need for a kitchen, which they had closed off by breaking down the dining room table and using it to seal the door shut.

“Nice work,” Garrus says, moving to stand behind her, and Ashley turns her head, giving him a small smile as he places a taloned hand on her shoulder and squeezes gently. “What now?”

“We should probably go see how Joker is making out with the research,” she replies, sighing as she places a hand on top of his, squeezing back, before stepping away.

“Nice work,” Garrus says, moving to stand behind her, and Ashley turns her head, giving him a small smile as he places a taloned hand on her shoulder and squeezes gently. “What now?”

“We should probably go see how Joker is making out with the research,” she replies, sighing as she places a hand on top of his, squeezing back, before stepping away.

She’s halfway across the room when a loud wailing noise, originating from the front door, stops her in her tracks. “Shit,” she whispers, scrambling to grab Shepard’s predator off the coffee table, which she tosses to Garrus, before grabbing and cocking the shotgun. She aims the gun towards the window closest to the sound, and nods her head towards the door leading to the hallway, mouthing _Joker_ at him. Garrus nods in understanding, disappearing into the hallway.

“Joker,” he whispers, poking his head into the library.

“I heard it,” he whispers back, eyes wide, nervously running a hand through his hair.

“Joker,” he whispers, poking his head into the library.

“I heard it,” he whispers back, eyes wide, nervously running a hand through his hair.

“Shut the door and barricade it from the inside” Garrus says quietly, setting the predator down and maneuvering his weight against the armoire they’d moved out of Wrex’s room. “I’m going to put this against the door as an extra precaution. Do NOT open the door, no matter what you hear, until Ash or I come to get you. We need you to keep pouring through those books.”

Joker nods, standing and reading himself to push the dresser - the one they’d moved into the library exactly for this reason, thanks to Ash’s quick thinking - against the door. Garrus pulls the door shut, and hears Joker click the lock into place, followed by a scraping noise as Joker moves the dresser into place with a grunt.

Satisfied that the door is barricaded from the inside, Garrus leans his back against the armoir, using his body weight to push it against the door.

He re-enters the living room, closing the door to the hallway, and, as an extra measure of safety, slides the sideboard back against the door. Afterward, he moves to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ashley, angling his body so he’s partly facing the side windows, as she faces the door and front ones.

The chattering noise has returned, and there’s shadows darting back and forth outside the window. Those creatures are definitely out there, and from the looks of it, there’s more than one. Garrus rolls his injured shoulder, grunting in mild pain as the muscles contract stiffly, before raising the predator, aiming it at the window and tracking the lanky shadow closest to him as it moves.

Suddenly, the window closest to the kitchen shatters, and Garrus whirls to face it, just as one long, bony hand reaches through wrapping itself around the first board, yanking it straight off the wall with a _pop._ There’s a raspy breath, one blackened eye socket peeking through the gap.

The chattering increases in speed and pitch as the thing seemingly studies them, steadily growing in volume as it pulses and wobbles, before hitting an eardrum splitting frequency, one that causes Ash to visibly wince as she aims the gun at the window. The creature wraps it’s arm around the second board, than the third, forcing them off with ease. Garrus is counting his breaths, concentrating on the creature, waiting for it to be in the perfect spot to take a shot.

They only have a limited number of bullets, and they both know they need to be careful with their shots, to make the most of each and every one.

The creature shoves it’s entire head through the window, looking around with an ear-splitting wail as it forces its upper body inside.

“I’ve got this one,” Garrus murmurs, taking aim square between the creature's eyes and firing. It moves at the last second, the bullet landing in the side of it’s skull instead of where Garrus intended, and screeches in pain as a thick, viscous black liquid leaks from the hole. It keeps moving, faster now, twisting it’s spindly arms as it pulls itself up the wall, and Ashley fires, hitting it square in the back.

The creature cracks it’s head around to stare at them, snarling and baring its glistening teeth as it pulls its entire body inside. He fires a second time, hitting the creature in the shoulder, but it doesn’t even slow.

Ashley takes a small step back. “How many bullets do you have, Garrus?” she asks, a nervous edge to her voice.

“Shepard brought two clips,” he replies, moving with her as the creature clambers up the wall, never taking it’s unseeing eyes off them. “So 28.” A second one pushes it’s head through, chattering loudly as it emerges.

Garrus can see a third one behind it, peering in.

“This only had 8 to start, when Joker found it,” Ashley says, her aim locked on the creature on the ceiling, backing farther and farther into the corner of the room as it moves. “6 now.”

“Save your bullets,” he instructs, taking aim at the one coming through the window. “Only fire if you’re forced.”

She nods, and Garrus fires. The bullet hits the creature square in the head, but it doesn’t slow.

“What the fuck?” Ash mutters, and Garrus doesn’t have a chance to answer her before the creature on the ceiling is scrambling across room, head grotesquely twisted 180 degrees, heading directly for Ashley. He whirls to fully face it, unloading the entirety of his clip into the creature, and reloads.

12 bullets. 12 bullets hit the thing, before it finally drops to the ground with a loud cry, spasming as black liquid pools beneath it on the floor.

Ashley exhales a breath, and looks like she’s about to say something, when the creature jerks back to life, dragging itself to it’s full height and towering over Ashley.

She fires, once, twice, three times, and near point-blank range.

Though the creature hisses in pain, the wounds bubbling with inky blackness, it doesn’t budge.

She shrieks in terror, shrinking against the wall as it bends in half, until it’s face is inches from hers, putrid breath cool on her skin as it stares into her eyes, one long, bony hand reaching out and running it’s razor-sharp nail down her cheek, leaving a crescent shaped gash that oozes blood. The creature brings the nail to its mouth, a long black tongue wiggling out as it laps at the red liquid, a horrifically satisfied hiss coming out of it as it draws itself back upright.

Suddenly, the creature is careening sideways as Garrus tackles it to the ground.

“RUN,” he shouts, struggling with the creature as the second climbs the rest of the way through, though Ashley doesn’t move.

“I won’t leave without you,” she cries, aiming at the second approaching creature. She fires at it, hitting it in the jaw and decimating half it’s face.

It keeps coming.

“You have to warn Shepard,” Garrus gasps, struggling to pin the arms of the creature to the ground as it leans towards him, roaring in his face.

Ashley hesitates, her eyes welling with tears as her gaze meets hit, and in that moment, Garrus knows she’s going to listen, this time.

“Garrus,” she begins, voice thick with emotion, but he shakes his head, cutting her off.

“GO,” he shouts, and her back straightens; the soldier in her knows an order when she hears one, and she races towards the door, undoing the multitude of deadbolts before flinging it open as the third creature’s feet hit the cabin floor.

Ashley freezes in the doorway and turns back to the room, one hand touching the blood on her cheek, a look of determination written across her face.

“What are you doing?” he demands.

Ash leans the shotgun against the wall, locking eyes with him as she fires up her omniblade, positioning it over her left forearm. “Giving you a chance.”

With that, she slices downwards in one fluid motion, wincing slightly as blood spills out of the wound, running down her arm as three sets of hollow eyes snap to look at her, teeth chattering.

“You like the smell of that?” she taunts, waving her arm at them, blood splattering the floor. “Come and get it,” she shouts, grabbing the shotgun before turning on her heel and running out into the darkness.

Two creatures shoot after her, and Garrus falls backwards as the one he’s pinned to the floor throws him backwards with incredible force, howling loudly as it takes chase on all fours.

Swearing in turian under his breath, Garrus grabs his discarded pistol and chases after her.

 

* * *

 

 

It’s past nightfall when Shepard and Kaidan emerge from the woods, skidding to a stop as they study the cabin. The windows are mostly boarded, curtains all tightly drawn; save for one that is shattered, torn curtains blowing in the wind. The cabin door is slightly ajar, and there’s a small pool of blood on the front porch, two sets of footsteps leading from it into the woods: one set human, the other distinctly turian.

“We’re too late,” Shepard says flatly, though Kaidan doesn’t say anything, instead, cautiously approaching the door and kicking it open with one foot.

The cabin is an empty mess, most of the furniture gone, broken down and nailed to every doorway and window - clearly the crew had tried to fortify the cabin.

Bullet casings litter the floor, and there’s a strange, black substance splattered here and there; Shepard can only assume it’s the blood of the reapermen. Joker’s hat is lying haphazardly on the floor, covered in dirt and torn.

“Help me move this,” Kaidan calls, and she turns, finding him grabbing one side of the dining hutch. She goes and takes hold of the opposite side, and together, the move it against the shattered window, sealing it off.

Shepard moves to shut the cabin door, deadbolting it, and then leans against it, exhaling heavily as she slides down the door to the ground.  

“Fuck,” she wheezes, shaking her head as Kaidan takes a seat next to her. “Some vacation this turned out to be.” She lets her head thunk against the wall, giving off a frustrated laugh. She notices the two-fours have been moved from the kitchen at the same time Kaidan does, and he reaches into the box, producing two warm beer bottles, offering one to Shepard. She readily accepts, hand shaking slightly as she brings the bottle to her mouth and pops the top off with her teeth. Kaidan raises an eyebrow at her, before using his biotics to help twist the top of his own.

“To not giving a fuck anymore,” she says, clinking her bottle against his before taking a long swig. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, after, smearing dirt and blood across her cheek. She's not sure whether it's her blood or someone else's, not that it really matters anymore. There’s no one else left alive on this god-forsaken planet, and they’re still two long days away from pick up. They both know they’re not making it out alive.

They sit in silence for a few moments, drinking their beers, before she flops her head down on his shoulder, rubbing her face against him as she sighs heavily. She looks up, and as their eyes meet, Shepard flicks her gaze down to his lips and back up again.

Kaidan looks away suddenly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, before throwing back the second half of his beer and setting the glass aside, seemingly coming to a decision. He turns to face Shepard, and her breath hitches in her throat as he looks at her, eyes full of emotion.

Gingerly, he reaches over and takes her beer, setting it aside without ever breaking eye contact. He reaches for her face, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear before letting his hand trail downward until it's cupping her cheek. Shepard inhales sharply in surprise as Kaidan leans in, hungrily claiming her mouth with his. Any protest she has dies on her lips as she sighs into his mouth, turning to face him, her hands fisting his shirt as she pulls him closer.

He pulls back, roughly turning her head to the side, hand on her jaw, as he sucks on her earlobe, eliciting a gasp. He hums in satisfaction as his mouth finds her neck, sucking and nipping his way to her collarbone, where he bites her skin and then quickly soothes the spot with his tongue.

She’s fumbling with his shirt, pulling the bottom of it up over his stomach, one hand running over the hard planes of his abdomen. He breaks their kiss long enough for her to yank the t-shirt over his head, tossing it to the side, and Shepard quickly sheds hers as well. Kaidan rakes his eyes over her body appreciatively, despite the blood and dirt, and Shepard reaches to pull him back to her when he catches her wrist, placing an open mouthed kiss on the inside of it.

He tugs her arm, pulling her into his lap, and she goes easily, swinging one leg over and straddling him; dipping her head down to kiss him again. He opens his mouth to her, sliding his tongue across hers, and she grinds her hips down against his in response, causing them both to moan.

She jumps up, suddenly, and Kaidan’s eyes fly open in surprise, the shock on his face morphing into a look of pure desire and she wiggles out of her wet and ripped jeans, until she's standing before him in her underwear. She's dirty and bruised, cuts from the thick bush lacing along her abdomen, but she has never looked more beautiful to Kaidan. He hauls himself to his feet, undoing his belt and pushing his own pants down as he strides towards her, roughly grabbing her hips and backing her towards the couch.

The back of Shepard's knees hit the edge, and he pushes her down, covering her body with his own as their lips meet in a heated kiss. He grinds into her, licking his way down her neck to her chest, putting one hand between them and stroking her through the soft fabric of her boyshorts.

She lets out a sound that sounds like a mewl, and Kaidan can't help but grin into her skin, knowing that he's the one drawing these sounds out of her, never mind the situation that brought them here. She wraps her legs around him, rocking into his touch, gasping in his ear as he strokes her.

“Please, Kaidan,” she whimpers, nipping at his earlobe. “Please, I need—” she gasps again, eyes rolling backward, and he chuckles throatily, pausing his ministrations.

Her eyes fly open and meet his, confusion briefly flashing across her face.

“Say it,” he says, voice low and rough with desire. “Tell me what you want, or I swear I'll stop.” He runs his fingers along her body for emphasis, and she gasps.

“Say it,” Kaidan repeats. “Don't make me ask again.”

“Fuck me,” she breathes, wiggling beneath him. “Just fuck me and don't stop.”

He crushes his lips to hers, and, pushing her underwear aside, obliges.


	5. Chapter 5

##  DAY FOUR

Kaidan is standing by the window, clad in his boxers and t-shirt from last night, one hand holding the curtain aside, peering out the window through an opening in the boards when Shepard wakes, stretching her arms out over her head as she kicks a blanket to the floor and swings her legs over the edge of the couch, sitting up.

He turns his head at the sound, and gives her a smile. “Hey,” he says softly, and Shepard can’t help but smile back, despite their situation.

“Hey yourself,” she replies, padding over to the door and picking up her discarded tee, pulling it over her head. She looks around, and spots her jeans a few feet away. She lifts them up, wrinkling her nose. They’re caked with mud, still soaking wet. She drops them back to the floor.

“Anything out there?” she asks, moving to stand behind him and leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Hard to tell, the sun is just starting to rise and it’s still really foggy." He shrugs, letting the curtain fall back into place as he glances towards the hallway door. “I wanted to go get us dry clothes,” he says, “but thought we should probably go together, just in case.

"Good thinking... though, if there was anything back there, I’m sure we would have heard it by now."

“True,” Kaidan says, as he moves to the edge of the sideboard, pushing it across the floor and away from the door, the feet scratching against the wood floor. "But better to be safe," he pauses, looking at Shepard. “Ready?”

She nods in affirmation, and he twists the knob, swinging the door open and stepping into the hallway.

“Huh, that’s weird,” he says, motioning to the armoire blocking the library door. “Do you think there’s something in there?”

There’s a rustling noise behind the door, followed by the sound of something heavy being dragged across the floor. Kaidan’s biotics flicker across his skin, and Shepard activates her omniblade, taking a step back as the door swings open.

Warm light floods out from either side of the armoire, and Joker’s green eyes are peeking through the crack. “Kaidan? Is that you?” he asks, and Shepard exhales in relief.

“Joker!” she cries, as Kaidan drags the armoire aside. She flings herself at him, crushing him in a hug. “We thought you were dead!”

“Alive and in the flesh,” he replies dryly, returning the hug. His voice falls before he continues. “Ash and Garrus, there was a lot of shots fired. Are they...” he trails off as Shepard sadly shakes her head.

“There’s tracks leading to the woods,” Kaidan says. “But it looks like there was quite the struggle inside. We don’t know what happened to them.”

“Shit,” he mutters, looking from Kaidan to Shepard. “Tali? Wrex?”

Kaidan and Shepard exchange a look. “Tali... Tali’s dead,” she says, declining to elaborate further. “No sign of Wrex.”

Joker shakes his head. “Fuck,” he sighs, rubbing his eyes. He turns back to the library, reaching for a book. “I did find something," he says, thrusting a leather-bound journal at them. "I think I know what we're up against." The book is open to a page with a life-like drawing of the creatures, slanted script filling the pages around it. Shepard flips the pages slowly, studying them as they detail the creation of these super-monsters.

“Cerberus,” she scoffs, eyes clouding with anger. “Of course they’re fucking behind these things. ‘ _The reapermen are stronger than we could have imagined,’_ ” she reads, venom in her voice, “‘ _True super-soldiers, ones that can go for months without eating, that can withstand multiple injuries, and have a tracking ability like none I’ve ever seen,’”_

“You mean humans _created_ those things?” Kaidan asks incredulously.

“Wait, you’ve SEEN them?” Joker exclaims. “And LIVED? How?”

She shakes her head, shrugging. "Dumb luck."

“I’ll say. From what I heard, it sounds like bullets don’t exactly work on these monsters. But I have good news,” he grabs the book from her, flipping to a dog-eared page and hands it back, tapping the center. “I think I know how to stop them.”

Shepard reads the words on the page, and smiles broadly and genuinely for the first time in what feels like weeks. “I know exactly where we can find the materials to make a bomb,” she says, looking at Kaidan as the realization dawns on him too. They’d seen fertilizer and propane in the storm cellar. “Let’s blow this fucking place sky high.”

“Fuck yeah,” Joker replies, pumping his fist in the air. “What’s the plan?”

Before Shepard can reply, Joker’s eyes flick downwards, and he raises an eyebrow, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face.

“Hey, uh, Shep?” he says casually, and she feels her face turn bright red as she realizes where this is going. “Why are you and Kaidan both missing pants?”

She smacks his arm. “Shut up.”

Joker lets out a loud guffaw, winking at Kaidan before heading into the living room, leaving Kaidan and Shepard to go change.

Fifteen minutes later, Kaidan and Shepard are in the storm cellar, Joker watching from above as Kaidan gather supplies, piling everything he needs near the doors.

"I sure hope this works," he says, and Shepard stops her pacing, looking upwards, her green eyes meeting his.

“It will,” she says confidently, and Joker frowns.

“How can you sound so sure?”  

She shrugs in response, glancing over at Kaidan, before turning back to Joker. “It has to.”

 

* * *

 

When Garrus wakes, morning is just breaking, the cloud-covered sun casting a dull grey light across the forest floor.

“Forest floor?” he mutters, wincing as he struggles to sit up. His legs are aching, a sharp pain throbbing in the left one. Blinking rapidly, he reaches to rub the aching spot, his hand connecting with wet, mangled flesh.

He looks down in a panic, only to discover the entire lower half of his leg is missing, and suddenly, the events of the previous night come crashing back.

His heart is pounding as he remembers those creatures chasing after Ashley, gutting her from navel to neck, and leaving her for dead before turning their sights on him, teeth chattering as they closed in, moving in a strange triangular pattern. The lead monster had slowly feasted on his leg, Garrus slipping in and out of consciousness as he watched the thing eat him alive.

He shakes his head, and takes a deep breath. There’s no time to think about that now. He needs to find Ashley, to see if she’s, if she’s— Garrus shakes that thought out of his mind, too, and looks around the forest, squinting through the fog as he looks for his human friend.

He spots her lying on the ground, face down, a roughly a quarter mile away. She’s covered in blood, gasping for shallow breaths,  shaking with each one, but she’s _alive_ , for now, at least.

Garrus scrabbles to drag himself across the ground towards her, hot pain shooting up his leg with each and every inch, but he grits his teeth and bares it, focused on the task at hand. _He’s got to get to Ashley._

After several more long, laborious, painful minutes, he makes it to her, reaching one long, taloned hand out and brushing her blood-matted hair away from her face. Her eyelids flutter open, and she struggles to focus on him, opening and closing her mouth as if trying to say something.

“Don’t,” he says, stroking her hair. “Save your strength.” Carefully, he rolls her over, onto her back, and has to swallow down bile as he examines the damage, fighting back tears. There’s no way she’s recovering from this, that much is certain. His memory was accurate - one of those things have completely eviscerated her, the contents of her stomach on display for the world to see, twisted and caked with dirt and mud, blood seeping out and coating the forest floor.

“How bad,” she croaks, her brown eyes glassy, distant, as she stares up at him. “Can’t feel... below shoulders...”

“Shhhhh,” he soothes, continuing to stroke her hair, and ignoring her question. She tries to speak again, and instead coughs violently, blood pooling in her mouth as she gurgles, gasping for air. Garrus rolls her head sideways, helping her drain the sticky redness from her mouth, and she lets out a long breath.

“I’m... dying,” she rasps, looking up at him; and though Garrus wishes he could refute her statement, could beg her to hold on, promise help is on the way, he knows it’s futile.

The both do.

Instead, he pulls her into his lap, hugging her close to his body as her breathing grows shallower by the minute.

“Ash,” he says, voice thick with emotion. “I have to tell you—”

“No,” she coughs, attempting to inhale, her chest rattling deeply. “Tell me... at... the bar.” She tries to inhale again, gasping for breath, her eyes widening with fear as she opens and closes her mouth, trying to suck in air that won’t fill her lungs.

Garrus says nothing more, just leans over and presses his forehead to hers, as her eyes flutter closed.

They don't reopen.

The forest air feels thick, suffocatingly so, as Garrus carefully move’s Ash’s body off him, gently laying her on the forest floor.

He rolls onto his stomach, dragging himself a few feet further, grabbing her discarded shotgun. He had emptied his pistol into those _things_ , a futile effort, last night, but doesn’t remember Ash taking more than two, maybe three shots after they left the cabin. He opens the gun, and checks. Three bullets left. Satisfied, he props himself up against a tree and waits, the dull _bzzzzzzt_ of the creatures chattering somewhere in the distance.

It was only a matter of time before they returned, he thinks, and he knows now what they’re capable of. Knows that he’s in no shape to fight, not with the bullet still lodged in his shoulder, with only one leg. Not when the things he’s fighting can’t be taken down with bullets.

But they can be _slowed_ down, he thinks, they can be injured, and on the off chance the others are still alive, these three bullets could help slow those things just enough to give them an edge.

He cocks the gun and aims it in the direction they’re coming from, as the chattering grows louder, prepared to take three very careful, well placed shots. If he plays his cards right, he thinks he might just be able to turn those two-legged horrors into one-legged horrors, in some sort of sick, sweet revenge.

Garrus waits with baited breath, the chattering growing louder and louder, ebbing and flowing until it’s an almost unbearable pitch, the sound dangerously close to his position.

As the first creature crests the edge of the forest, he takes aim, counting slowly until it’s mere feet away, waiting, waiting until it’s almost on top of him. He shoves the scimitar against the creature's leg and fires, the bullet tearing straight through the gangly limb, severing three-quarters of it from it’s upper thigh as the creature howls in pain, collapsing onto it’s good knee. Garrus fires a second round, this time aiming at the creature’s other leg, which effects the same result.

A second creature is almost on top of him now, and Garrus takes a deep breath, once again waiting for the exact perfect moment to fire, the bullet tearing through the creature’s limb as it, too, howls with pain.

He’s out of bullets, now, and as the third creature descends upon him, teeth chattering, Garrus closes his eyes and prays for a quick death as it sinks it’s razor-sharp teeth into his neck, tearing at his jugular, lips smacking.

As the world pitches sideways, the edges of his vision going blurry, he thinks of Ashley; of her smile, her laugh.

He'll see her again soon.

 

* * *

 

 

  
Kaidan finished stuffing the fuel-soaked cotton into the cardboard box, and wipes his hands on a dirty rag, tossing it aside and standing.

“That should do it,” he says, turning to face Shepard.

She nods, lips tight, and tosses him the matchbook she’s holding. He catches it, and she turns away, makes her way into the woods, heading as far away as she dare go, crouching behind a tree and watching from a distance as he backs up. Kaidan moves slightly behind a nearby rock, where they’d piled a number of crudely-made molotov cocktails; studying the distance between him and the tiny makeshift bomb by the caved-in office.

The plan is simple: they’ll set off the small bomb, hopefully attracting the reapermen to the lodge, bringing them out of hiding. As an extra measure, they’d dragged the two dead varren from the traps, butchering them and spreading the pieces around, taking care to smear the blood as much as possible on the outside walls of the facility.

It was already working, Shepard is sure; the faint telltale chattering in the distance is growing closer with every passing second.

She hopes Joker is safe. They’d cleared the area near the shuttle evac site they’d found, and had taken Joker there earlier; a few molotov cocktails and one makeshift bomb left with him as a last resort line of defense. He was working to see if there were any salvageable parts to the shuttle - with a little luck, there’d be at least a functioning radio; and with a lot of luck, he might even be able to repair the shuttle enough to move it around the planet. They couldn’t leave atmo, not with the ship's body as burnt out as it was, but they could at least use it to find a safer spot to wait out their final day.

Shepard turns her attention back to Kaidan. The chattering is louder, now, reaching a crescendoing level that indicates they’re closing in. She nods at Kaidan, and he uses a match to light the first cocktail. He throws it over to the smallest of the fertilizer bombs, and it lands square where he intended, burning brightly for a moment before exploding into a brilliant flash of white light, mushrooming upwards slightly.

The chattering silences for a split second, before picking up again, interlaced with the wails and guttural howls of the creatures as, one by one, they emerge from the forest, surrounding the lodge. There’s tens of them, and more still coming.

One sniffs the air, and she’s worried they might be discovered, when it darts downwards, snatching up a piece of varren and hungrily sucking the fleshy meat off the bottom of the bone, lips smacking. Shepard’s stomach rolls, and she has to look away, suppressing a gasp. She hears a twig snap, in the distance, and whirls to the right, staring in horror as one of the creatures tilts it head as it moves, inky black eyes fixated on Kaidan’s back. She wants to call out, to warn him, but she is cognizant of the fact there’s more of them out there, and doesn’t want to give away their position.

She creeps towards Kaidan, holding her breath as the thing moves in tandem with her, parallel in path, Shepard’s eyes focused on the reaperman, while it focuses in on Kaidan.

Shepard is nearly close enough to grab his shoulder, to warn him, when a cold, slimy hand wraps five bony fingers around her ankle, squeezing tightly. She can hear the chattering, loudly, right next to her ear. She kicks her foot, trying to free it, but the creature's vice-like grip doesn’t budge.

“Kaidan,” she hisses, kicking again, and she thanks whatever deity is watching as he turns just in the nick of time, throwing the approaching creature backwards before skidding over to Shepard, hitting the reaperman attached to her leg with another wave of biotic power before pulling her towards him. It howls as it rolls, and a number of creatures snap their heads back in their direction, the _crack crack crack crack_ of their necks more than enough information for Shepard to decide what to do next.

She grabs his hand as he stands, and hauls him to her feet.

“We’ve gotta go,” she says, and he shakes his head vehemently.

“No way, we’ve got to finish this,” he hisses. “Once and for all.”

“There’s no time to argue,” she shoots back, looking over his shoulder. Kaidan turns, and visibly pales as he sees what she’s been watching unfold for the past few minutes.

The area around the lodge is filled, _filled,_ with reapermen, and at least a dozen of them have their heads snapped in their direction, slowly skittering towards them.

Kaidan scrambles backwards, pulling Shepard with him, and the one of the creatures snarling, snapping it’s teeth as it flies towards them, chattering all the while.

Shepard takes off running, and Kaidan throws the reaperman backwards, darting after Shepard as fast as he can.

“Where are we going,” he gasps, as she veers to the right.

“Towards the river,” she answers. “We can split up there, see if we can separate them, meet back at the cabin, and try again.” He frowns, and Shepard ignores the look he's giving her as she continues. “I know it’s risky, but we don’t have many options here.”

A beat passes, and Shepard turns to look at him as she jumps over a fallen tree, boots hitting the ground with a soft _thud_ as she lands on the other side. Kaidan has a look of concentration on his face, and Shepard instantly knows he’s running through their options.

He sighs heavily. “You’re right. That is our best bet.”

They run in silence for at least fifteen minutes, nothing but the sound of their footsteps and the chattering of the creatures behind them filling the forest.

She can hear water rushing ahead, and Shepard knows the river is close. She’s about to tell Kaidan to head right, when a reaperman jumps from the trees overhead and lands directly in their path on all fours, it’s head tilted upside down and to the sky as it lets out the most guttural, horrific cry she’s ever heard.

It sounds like a battle cry, like it’s calling the others.

Shepard fires up her omniblade and moves east of the creature, meeting Kaidan’s eyes as he moves opposite her, separate but together. His eyes flicker blue as his biotics spring to life once more, and before she can blink he's pulling the creatures towards him, than throwing it towards her. As the reaperman spirals through the air towards her, Shepard tracks it’s movement, eyes narrowed, omniblade primed for attack.

Right when it’s about to slam into her, she grabs the thing by the neck with one hand, reefing it’s head back and tearing a deep, clean gash straight across it’s neck, severing it’s head over halfway through as it’s body goes slack. She drops it to the floor, taking a few steps back as Kaidan approaches, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her in for a long kiss, clutching her hand to his heart.

When they break apart, he rests his forehead against hers, and she closes her eyes for a moment, savouring the feeling of his heartbeat under her palm, strong, steady; drinking in the way their breath mingles for a few precious seconds, before she opens her eyes and they both step apart.

“Be safe,” he says, his voice cracking at the end, and she takes a deep breath.

“You too." She forces herself to take a few more steps backwards. “I’ll see you at the cabin.”

“At the cabin,” he echoes, giving her one last long look, unspoken emotion written across his features before he turns to go, stepping over the torso of the downed reaperman and walking away from her.

Shepard swallows, hard, and is about to turn to leave when movement catches her eye. She turns back towards Kaidan, and her gut plummets as she watches the reaperman - the one she swore she’d just killed - drag itself to it’s feet, head dangling listlessly from it’s neck as it reaches for Kaidan.

“KAIDAN,” she screams, not caring how many monsters it drives in her direction, if it means saving the man she loves. He turns to face her, eyes widening in panic as the reaperman slams into him, and they tumble to the ground, struggling for dominance. It grabs a fistful of Kaidan’s shirt and yanks, trying to pull him in it’s direction, but instead, tears the shirt. Kaidan takes the opportunity to grab the creatures stringy hair - what’s left of it, that is - and slam it’s face down sharply on his bent knee.

Black liquid oozes from the reaperman’s severed neck, but it keeps moving, clutching for Kaidan as he scrambles backwards, trying to regain the upper hand. The creature lunges forward, knocking Kaidan flat on his back, and Shepard fires up her omniblade, darting towards the two of them when Kaidan flips them over, and punches the thing in the head multiple times. It flails it’s arms, howling in a mix of anger and pain as Kaidan beats it, inky black blood coating his knuckles.

What happens next happens so quickly, yet time slows to a crawl as Shepard watches in horror, unable to stop the scene unfolding before her eyes.

The reaperman kicks it’s legs upwards, somersaulting them over, simultaneously slicing one long nail straight across Kaidan’s stomach, blood spilling everywhere.

Kaidan gasps, looking down in surprise.

The reaperman takes this split second and hurls the two of them another few feet, and they careen over the edge of the cliff, hitting the rushing river with a splash as Shepard scrambles to the ledge just in time to see the creature pull Kaidan under with it.

Shepard’s eyes fill with tears and she clamps a hand over her mouth as she chokes back a sob.

The wail of one of the creatures brings her back to the present, and she pushes herself onto two shaky legs, willing herself to put one in front of the other as she makes her way back to the cabin.

Shepard stumbles through the door, slamming it shut, leaning against it and drawing a deep, shaking breath as she sinks to the ground.

She can’t believe - doesn’t want to believe - the things she’s seen, she’s _done_ in the past forty-eight hours. Doesn’t want to believe her crew, her _friends_ are all dead. Breathing deeping, she wills her eyes to open... and instantly wishes she hadn’t, bile rising in her throat as she gags, choking back vomit.

There, mounted on the wall - right next to the varren head he’d been admiring just days ago - was Wrex’s severed head.

As she stares at it, wide-eyed and horrified, she swears she can hear a low, chattering sound humming in the distance.

She forces herself to look away, eyes landing on the door leading to the back hallway.

There, leaning against the wooden frame, is their failsafe: one last fertilizer bomb, by far, the largest of them all.

Large enough to blow this cabin, and anything within a five mile radius, straight to hell.

Shepard smiles, shoving a shaking hand into her pocket and pulling out the matches, dragging herself towards the bomb as she takes one matchstick in hand, positioning it over the flint as the chattering grows louder, ebbing and flowing, changing in pitch, as the reapermen close in on the cabin.

With one last deep, shaky breath, she strikes downwards.

 

* * *

 

 **A/N: I SAID I WAS SORRY**, OK???**  
  
****but not really. ;)**  
  
 **I really love horror movies - especially the oh-so-gory, blood-and-guts-extravaganza, don't-go-into-the-woods-alone, OH-GOD-HOW-DUMB-CAN-YOU-BE, so-bad-they're-good, cabin slasher types; and wanted to try to write something that paid homage to that while still keeping things in the ME'verse (and still trying to keep people in character while also playing up common horror archtypes).**  
  
**Maybe not my best work, but damned if it wasn't fun to write (and totally out of my element - guys, writing body horror is friggin _hard_!) How many awful horror tropes did you count!? Curious to see who can find the most. TBH I'm not even sure how many I crammed in there in the end. **  
  
 **Let me know how I did - concrit is always welcome! Also this is totally unbeta'd because apparently that's how I roll, so all the typos are mine and I'm sorry in advance.**


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